from washington, "the mclaughlin group," the american original. for over two decades, the sharpest minds,

issue one, cain in pain! >> let me say one thing. i'm here with these doctors, and that's what i'm going to talk about. so don't even bother asking me all of these other questions that you all is curious about, okay? don't even bother! >> republican presidential candidate herman cain this week went from media darling to media target. cain confronted allegations that he had sexually offended

three female employees some 15 years ago, when he was the president of the national restaurant association. representing nearly 400 thousand restaurant locations. cain says the charges are absolutely and unequivocally falls. >> cain drew a defense from carol markowitz in the new york post this week. markowitz moved to georgia seven years ago and worked on the cain 2004 campaign for the u.s. senate. markowitz wrote this week --

and defend evidence cain as extremely professional and fair to female staffers at the restaurant association. question, is the cain campaign getting unusually tough execute are scrutiny or is this treatment standard for a front- runner? pat buchanan? >> no, it's getting unusual treatment because he's an african-american who talks about getting off the liberal plantation. he is also a conservative and he is the front-runner for the nomination. you look at the media went into the tank for jack kennedy, all of them, john edwards. however, john, there does appear to be some measure of substance to the charges. and i agree these don't look like murderous charges but they've damaged cain. i think they've damaged the

republican party. and the republican establishment probably more against cain now than ever, thinking we don't know what will come out here. so it's been very hurtful overall, but cain's getting the treatment because who he is and where he stands. >> a professional relationship. that's the degree of clarity and obscurity that is reprinted as harassment. >> well, there were financial settlements that were made, and the women anonymity so far has been protected. i'll bet if this story continues to play out, the women may step forward and we may hear their side. but pat says on the one hand he is being victimized because he's black and is a conservative, but on the other

hand there may be substance to the charges. i mean, this is the press doing what the press should be doing, and they should have done due diligence on this candidate earlier on. i think there was an assumption and there still is an assumption that he is unlikely to be the republican nominee, and he is very unlikely to be president. so he got a free ride for a good long while. and he is getting the some positive things out of this. he's been interviewed by virginia thomas, the wife of clarence thomas. and the images surrounding the anita hill-clarence thomas confrontation in the early 90s is powerful imagery for the right wing. and when the attacks seem to be coming from the outside, herman cain is doing very well. he's raised a lot of money. his numbers rupp. so i think this is not going to have a good end for a lot of people, but right now it's now -- it's almost more about the media now than about the candidates. >> the cash settlement often enough cases are resolved by

cash because they're very time consuming. >> right. >> very time consuming, and they can develop massive legal fees. so you settle it, you put it away, and everybody buries it, and you -- one takes an oath not to repeat the contents of it, which u make a good point o but until we hear the other side, there's also the possibility that this is a man who behaves inappropriately and is just easier to settle. >> inappropriate is one thing, but harassment, sexual harassment, is something else. >> i don't know where the line is, john. >> well, this is a feuded area. >> it does depend on whether these women come forward and what they say. if they say something that makes voters really uncomfortable, then he will be in big trouble. but if it stays vague or they don't come forward at all, his poll numbers since the revelati >> since the revelation. he's still at the top barely

and raised a million dollars some it's not hurting him yet. >> how do you explain that? >> bus the information is vague. and we don't know -- >> does it have something to do with the way he comes across and what is needed now in a president of the united states? >> shifted, that's true, he's recalled more details. but he's steadily denied doing anything wrong. he's done that consistently. and as long as he keeps doing that, and he is stuck to his message talking about his 9% tax plan and economy. >> it may be more about him and what the people are looking for, and his popularity, and they see qualities in him they want if a president. >> i think television being television, okay, he's a very attractive personality on at the television in. a array of candidates, who are not totally shall we say doing well across the television screen. so i think there was room for somebody who seemed to be genuine, had a sense of humor, he had something very clear in his message which is the 9-9-9, and i think that is something

that really resonated for a while. this is not going to help him in my judgment, okay? the question is, i think absolutely rightly put, when you say the question is what will come out and lou it affect him? >> you think it's a stated opinion on the screen here from the woman who wrote column in the new york post will have any relieving effect on his situation? >> i don't. >> john, she says others have said the same thing. >> john, she worked -- >> here's what -- helps him. the liberal media is just distrusted by the american right. when the liberal media goes after a popular guy, a black guy coming up, they just say they're after our guy, we don't trust you people, we don't like you. cain is helped by that. >> okay. moving on. >> so much for the cain 2004 campaign worker and columnist blogger. what is cain's presidential

campaign manager saying? he is saying that a political consultant through a cain rival in the u.s. presidential race, texas governor rick perry, informed the perry campaign of the alleged charges brought against the then ceo of the national restaurant association. >> in 2003, her maine cain ran for the senate. he hired a general consultant, curtain son. mr. cain divulged the nra claims at that time to his consultant so the campaign at this point would be point if the issue surfaced. it did not. approximately two weeks ago, as you know, mr. anderson went to work for the rick perry campaign. what else happened about two weeks ago? politico began this smear campaign citing anonymous cain inappropriately. >> question, was it smart of cain's staff to accuse the perry campaign as being behind

this? >> you know, i don't think it was smart. i suppose it's an attempt to divert attention from him and face all politico. but i don't think it's going to help. i don't think -- >> that's why it's authentic, right? >> he backed off but since then, so i don't think that that -- >> backed off his own statements we just saw? >> yes. >> yes, because the aide or works for rick perry came forward and said that he never heard any of this and he denied it. and mark said well, until -- >> the person we just saw? >> yes, ma'am then you have the perry campaign claiming it was the -- so what you have is this wonderful, delicious -- >> john, what cain is doing -- >> they're shooting at each other! that's right. >> what cain is doing is all this animus and hatred of the liberal press, redirect that over to perry.

lateral the ball to him. >> are you willing to contradict what he's saying? >> no. guy says i didn't do it, curt anderson. i tend to believe him, unless he's cigaretteing. >> he didn't even know anything about the charges. however, the perry campaign has the most to gain from herman cain's downfall because they attract the same voter base. so there would be some motivation on the perry campaign for someone or romney even to -- >> what is into it. >> it came from one of the republican candidates. >> but you think it's the -- dirty pool, that blaming it on cain to rid cain of the campaign because of perry? >> john -- >> nobody in politics would do something like that! oh, no! absolutely not. >> the surprising thing is that herman cain and presumably his aides knew this was out there and that it would likely come up, and they should have gotten their act together. >> they went into paralysis. >> they probably campaign, yes.

>> not handle it well either. he was kept on changing his story, and there was a -- >> sometimes you have to change your story. >> exit question -- on a political damage scale, zero to 10, zero meaning no damage, full survival, and 10 meaning total eclipse, how much have the cain allegations damaged his candidacy? >> i think it's 4 and rising. >> i'm going to give it a 5. >> a 5? >> yes. >> susan? >> 5 and depending on what comes out in the forthcoming days from the women who accuse him of this. >> i think we're all the same place. >> this alleged -- >> they could be released from that. there's a request with the restaurant association that these women have the opportunity to speak. and depending on what they say and how they say it, that will really determine his future. >> relocated and the bahamas? tell him to hold firm! >> they're back in the kitchen, out of the restaurant.

issue two, no satisfaction! >> i certainly understand that many people are dissatisfied with the state of the economy. i'm dissatisfied with the state of the economy. >> high unemployment, slow economic growth. that's the forecast for the u.s. economy for january through december, 2011. announced this week by the hair man of the board, ben bernanke. the fed as it's called released its projections for 2011, the bad news -- item, gdp, gross domestic product, all goods and services down from 3% projected growth for 2011 to 1.6% projected growth for 2011. item, unemployment up, from below 9% projected for this year to 9.1% now projected for

this year. item, long-term unemployment up. currently unemployed will remain unemployed after the economy recovers. >> cyclical unemployment left untreated for a long time can become structural unemployment as people lose skills, attachment to the labor force, as their work networks dry up. >> last week, the u.s. secretary of the treasury, tim geithner, echoed chairman bernanke's overall assessment. >> it's still very tough out there. the people are very frustrated and still hurting growing fast enough. >> the u.s. unemployment rate came in late this week. it at 9% or higher. question, are policymakers around the world starting to fear that they don't know how

to restore the economy that existed in 2006, before the meltdown, mort? >> yeah. i think it's a huge problem not only in the united states, but in europe as we see. the problem begins with an absolute overwhelming amount of debt overhanging the economy. and until that debt gets worked down, we'll have a very slow growth in the economy. and the opportunities that we had to turn around the economy when when the stimulus program, frankly, the stimulus program was badly structured and adequate and didn't work some we're now in a situation that we have very few tools left in the toolshed for any government do anything very much at this stage of the game. we cannot afford another huge increase in our deficit and nor can they in europe. so we have a real problem. >> let's nail down little more. eu meltdown? >> if it's growing, it's harder do what we need to do for the l middle-class. >> president obama this week was in france for the g-20

summit, which focused on greece. greece is debt ridden, and the 27-member eu is insisting that greece pay back 50% of that bank debt. this week greek prime minister george papandreou called for a referendum to ascertain what the greek people think about taking this major loan. the eu told the prime minister to drop the referendum idea where upon the prime minister then decided to drop the referendum. question, is there any reason to believe that this greek pass work? >> no, john. they wrote down 50% of their bank debt but also got an austerity plan and papandreou says we're going to let the greek people vote on whether they want this -- they would have voted it down. they would have gotten no money. >> why? because the greek people is a p

democracy is killing the new world order. when people vote on the treaty, constitution in europe or the brits get to goat on the eu, they vote it down. this is an elite project. but if the greeks voted it down, they would be out of the eu, they would go back to the drachma. euro zone would be down and dead. and what follows there is the big one, which we talked with last week, is italy. if italy goes, it can't be rescued. >> so what buchanan is saying is the eu needs greece, even more than greece needs the eu? >> papandreou actually forced the issue because he has a socialist government, and the conservative opposition was opposing any of the mergers and the deals and they were opposing this bailout. and so now the threat of being forced out of the eu has made the opposition turn around, so you now have political unity and they may form a unity government. i think the greek people, if it's explained to them, will understand that they get a lot of benefit from the eu and the germans are putting up a lot of

money because three get a lot of ben facility from the eu, and they're not ready to let the eu go under. >> 500 billion? >> there were 8 or $9 billion, on the verge every being trance taberds to greece. when he called for the referendum, germans and french that -- we're not giving you that 8 billion plus dollars. that was the first kind of hint that greek -- the greek economy would be suffering, okay? the real problem is the contagion off this thing. and it's going to affect the whole banking system in europe. and in particular, when you have countries like italy and spain where you have to come up -- >> is there a larger question of whether the eu will hang together as a unit or is there a possibility of the breakaways? >> john, there is a possibility. >> we don't need this. >> they can't afford to allow it to break up now because they'll have bankruptcies all over the place. you'll have a bankruptcy in the did you default of italy, european economy would be wiped out. germany would be in real trouble because -- >> two things -- >> is the eu -- shed any light

on this? is the eu in any danger of disassembling? >> absolutely. i absolutely think it is, especially we have a problem with italy. >> then what happens to our economy? >> it's a euro zone, john. there are two separate things. there's a euro zone which has 17 nations, and the eu. if the euro zone goes down, if italy demands 50% right down of its debt, they can't pay it all. then the eu follows the zone dies, i think the eu dies. >> support 50 -- [everyone talking at once] you're talking about a coupling of -- >> won't pay it. multiple choice exit question. is bernanke's assessment for 2012, forget the eu, a, not rosie enough? b, sufficiently rosie? or c, too rosie because we're headed for a global double dip? >> i think he's probably about right, unless this zone goes down, and mort is right. >> i think he's about right. and i also think that the

germans and the french are going to do everything to keep the euro zone going, and i put my money on them. >> i think that bernanke was right in his assessment, absolutely. >> you do? >> yes. >> i think he will have another occasion next year in which he will further depress his estimates of the growth and the economy. they took off about 50% of the estimated growth. i think it's going to go down further from that. i don't know whether it will be a double dip, which is the other option, but worse than the numbers? yes. >> is there any bottom to your pessimism? >> yes, there is, actually. >> what is the bottom? >> the bottom to my pessimism -- >> nobody has ever asked me that question! >> time is the only thing. we have to eliminate a lot of debt. until that happens we're in deep trouble. we have the most -- largest stimulus program if the last two years, it's not worked. we are in great, great difficulty. >> it wasn't enough, and -- focus -- and the focus on all of the aust

three, the u.s. oil rush. >> let this be our national goal -- at the end of this decade, in the year 1980, the united states will not be dependent on any other country for the energy we need. >> president richard nickon laid out this goal in his 1974 state of the union address. that the u.s. will be energy independent by 1980. but the u.s. did not achieve that goal by 1980. in fact, every u.s. president since richard nixon has pledge to make the u.s. independent of foreign oil. jerry ford, jimmy carter, ronald reagan, george h.w. bush, bill clinton, george w. bush, and currently barack obama. >> the only way this century will be another american century is if we con front at last the price of our dependence on oil. >> but the u.s. is still the

world's largest importer of foreign oil, 12 million barrels per day. the cost of importing this overwhelm this year is $1 trillion. but the u.s. may now be experiencing an his storr ic u- turn. the u.s. and the coming decade will surpass saudi arabia and russia to become the world's largest producer of liquid hydrocarbons, oil and l&g liquid natural gas. the u.s. will be free from foreign oil in nine years, 2020. energy analysts say this -- question, is this a game change if nor the u.s. in the world

economy? >> no. oil is still a limited supply. this is a narrative that's being advanced by people who were trying to stall the alternative energy industry. and i just -- i'm happy for williston, north dakota, there there are some jobs there. but there are lots of problems with getting natural going back, track and, is being investigated for what it does to the water supply and so forth some no, this is not a panacea, still invest in solar energy. >> here's the problem. >> eleanor is the problem? >> and her friends are the problem. >> you mean -- the grown people. >> enormous potential. we have technology, we'll make ourselves more energy independent. and the green movement wants to block it because they say oh, my goodness, this will mean -- >> there goes our money. >> there goes solyndra and our benefits and the rest of it of this is a tremendous thing for north dakota and a tremendous thing for america. i agree with eleanor. you got to make sure the

environment is protected and we ought to go full force. >> always interested there absolutely splendid piece that appeared in the financial times this week by a man named ed crooks on monday. it was a full page spread that -- two pages spread as i recall, and the energy section of it, and it was just great. and it's very compelling. >> and very compelling and it's accurate, because i've responsible to the people in in industry. the technology has changed dramatically. it does not involve the environmental risks that eleanor was referring to. they are going to be able to drill in totally different ways, and much deeper. >> if laterally. >> and go laterally. >> and a dramatic transformation in the supply of energy coming up out of do. particular -- >> natural gas and liquefied natural. >> and oil! >> and oil. >> so it comes out as oil too. >> 40 million barrels of oil in idaho alone. dakota, excuse me, north dakota alone. what they're finding is truly a

stoppering, and transforming to are this country. >> to we're apparently richer -- >> we are. >> canada is -- >> shale. >> yes, but there are other places that haven't been successfully prospected yet. >> part of the trouble with our economy right now is the trade deficit. if we start ex for thing this oil, we could cut down the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars that. would really help the economy. so i think this is a -- [everyone talking at once] >> game changer. >> maybe -- >> how much are we importing every day? >> something like 12 men barrels. >> where is that going? >> we've become depend only a lot of countries, venezuela, mexico, canada, and the middle east. >> i think 18% of our oil comes from venezuela. >> all right. call me the cynic. i see this as a public relations narrative advanced bithe coal and oil industry. >> ah-hah! >> that feels lying they're losing their -- >> so -- [everyone talking at once] >> this will kill the coal

industry! >> fossil fuels, still fossil fuels. >> big oil w3is up to its old trac prediction, pat? >> the drugs. for war on iran will begin next week, when the u.n. report comes in saying iran is playing around, maybe with nuclear weapons. >> eleanor. >> the referendum to restore collective bargaining rights will pass in ohio. >> susan? >> the accusers of her maine cain are come out and say something. >> really? >> the egyptian military will stay in power in egypt for a number of years. there will be no poply elected government in egypt. >> how it are they behaving? >> so far they're being fairly prudent. >> i thought they were shooting guns into a crowd? >> not -- i haven't noticed that recently and i was the sam it. that china -- i predict china will launch its own space station by 2017, three years ahead of schedule. a china space station.

bye-bye!