problems. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. rick perry and his campaign owe herman cain and his family an apology. >> explosive new allegations from the herman cain camp that rick perry's campaign dropped the dime on sexual harassment charges. now the perry campaign is pointing at romney. politico's ken vogel broke the story. he's here tonight. democrats are gearing up for the fight with mitt romney. >> everything corporations earns ultimately goes to people. where do you think it goes? >> bill burton of priorities usa is here. construction workers, they want to do their jobs. we need congress to do theirs. >> the president hammers republicans again on jobs. and new polling shows the country is responding. >> are you kidding me? >> katrina vanden heuvel of "the nation" is here with the latest. republicans in ohio are fear

mongering about your children. you won't believe their latest ad. good to have you with us tonight, folks. there are four new developments on the herman cain story tonight. for the first time, herman cain says the perry camp was behind the leak. the biggest problem for herman cain, a third woman has now come forward saying she considered filing a workplace complaint against him when he was president of the national restaurant association back in the '90s. she says herman cain invited her to his corporate apartment. she spoke with the "associated press" today on condition of anonymity fearing retaliation. remember, herman cain said he knows of no other accusers, but now this third one surfaced. his campaign is fighting back on the first two accusations and now it's pointing the finger at the perry camp. herman cain says this man, kurt anderson, is responsible for leaking the story to politico. mr. anderson was a consultant to herman cain when he was running for the senate back in 2003 and he knew vital information about herman cain which he could have

given to the perry camp. well, herman cain's campaign manager, mark block, said this. >> the actions of the perry campaign are despicable. rick perry and his campaign owe herman cain and his family an apology. in 2003, herman cain ran for the senate. he hired a general consultant, curt anderson. mr. cain divulged the nra claims to -- >> national restaurant association. >> exactly. mr. anderson. so the campaign at that point would be prepared 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 sources claiming mr. cain acted inappropriately. >> mr. anderson told "forbes" he

was not the source of the leak. a perry spokesman told nbc news tonight, no one in our campaign was involved in the story at any way. perry's camp pointed the finger at mitt romney, saying, i wouldn't have put it past them. a perry spokesman said this -- there are blog postings around as well discussing that cain's successor at the restaurant association is a big romney donor and some of the board members. there are much closer connections between the restaurant association, cain and the romney camp than there are with us. but there is another republican consultant tonight giving herman cain another headache. his name is chris wilson, and his firm has done polling for a perry presidential pac. >> i was the pollster for the national restaurant association when herman cain was the head of it, and i'll tell you, i was actually around a couple times when this happened. and it just -- anyone who was involved with the restaurant association at the time knew that this was going to come up. i know the woman that is now being talked about. she wants to come forward now

and talk. >> wilson also says he thinks herman cain broke the confidentiality agreement. >> and so you're probably going to see her on tv and i'll tell you at the time, she was a very lower level staffer. i think she was maybe two years out of college and this all occurred at a restaurant in crystal city. everybody was very aware of it, and so it is -- it was only a matter of time because so many people were aware of what took place. so many people were aware of her situation and the fact that she left after this. >> wilson told politico the situation at the restaurant was very uncomfortable. >> i don't want to be drawn into it specifically, but if she comes out and talks about it then it's, like i said, i think it will probably be the enend of this campaign. >> wilson denies being the source of the original politico story. get your cell phone out. tonight's question, will herman cain's campaign survive this scandal? text "a" for yes, "b" for no to 622639. or go to my blog at ed.msnbc.com.

we'll bring you the results later on in the show. one thing we should ask tonight. what's the limit here? how many women have to come out and talk about herman cain before the republican party or somebody shows some leadership saying, you know, guy, maybe you better step out of this whole thing. let's bring in ken vogel, chief investigative reporter for politico, who helped break this story earlier this week. and wayne slater, co-author of "bush's brain." ken, good to have you with us tonight. i want to start with you. the "ap" is reporting a third accuser. what do you make of it? >> it sounds kind of consistent with some of the things that we've heard, that this is an association, the national restaurant association, that by definition is centered around the hospitality industry. we've heard a lot about some of these afterwork gatherings. some of the gatherings at the national restaurant association

convention. there was a lot of alcohol involved. and there are sort of tales that have come out of that. we're trying to track them down. the "associated press" in this case with this particular woman tracked down a particular tale in which the woman says herman cain invited her back to his apartment, his corporate paid apartment in crystal city, virginia, and made her feel extremely uncomfortable that she thought about filing a formal sexual harassment complaint but decided not to because she began to have less dealings with him at the national restaurant association. so we are also working on details trying to flush out some details of an earlier incident that we reported, a national restaurant association convention in chicago in the late '90s. i think there are a number of media outlets working on similar lines of reporting. >> would you draw the conclusion as a reporter, there seems to be a pattern of behavior here, ken? >> certainly we are aware of two instances. "the associated press" reported a third.

we have at least three and will have to see where it goes from here. >> one other question for you. herman cain says curt anderson, he's the guy that leaked the story to. you what's your response there? >> we don't have to respond. curt anderson came out and said he was not our source. we think that the information stands on its own. if the information is false, they can come out and say it's false. thus far, it's proven accurate. >> wayne slater, herman cain says it's the perry camp behind all this. what do you make of it? >> apparently, based on what we know in the last 24 hours, everybody knew about this, everybody in washington and texas and boston but nobody did it. nobody gave politico the information. look, there are a lot of arrows pointed right to the perry campaign. chris wilson, the one guy you mentioned, working now with a super pac, run by perry's former chief of staff, which will spend, it thinks, a budget of $55 million, has gone up on the air in iowa and south carolina

this week. he obviously has a direct connection with the super pac, which operates across the street here in austin from the campaign, itself. wilson was a former executive director of the texas republican party and he left that job back in the mid '90s to go to work for tony fabrisio and worked on the presidential campaign of bob dole where they were accused among other things of some dirty tricks. what happened this week? tony fabrisio joins the perry camp at the same time chris wilson is handling the polling for the political action committee. not just him, but this curt anderson. lots of ties, lots of connections. >> you have herman cain out there saying there's no other accusers. now there's a third one. it continues to spiral. now you have a source in this guy that used to work for him on a senate campaign saying, well, yeah, i was told about this problem. so, i mean, wayne, is herman cain trying to drag down the perry camp with him? >> well, i think herman cain probably thinks it was the perry camp. i think they're probably, they're probably pretty logical about that. at the same time, the connections with the romney people are amazing, too.

what i find amusing, of course, is on talk radio where rush limbaugh and laura ingraham and others are accusing the liberal mainstream media for doing something that very clearly is a fight within the conservative republican party, itself. >> well, i find it interesting that the right wing talkers are giving support to herman cain. they don't even have all the facts. they're rushing to judgment that he's a clean gene and has no problems at all. ken block, mark block, should i say, is calling for the perry campaign and politico to apologize. here it is. >> the perry campaign needs to apologize to herman cain and his family and america for this despicable actions. and quite frankly, politico, too. politico won't release documentation or will they even

admit they spoke to these two women? why? because they have nothing and cited unnamed sources. >> ken, politico's reporting this. herman cain told a meeting of georgia house republicans a report was coming out and he would be vindicated. so we've got a new line from herman cain saying that there's a story going to be coming out, going to vindicate him. what about that? >> well, we're not aware of what this story is that he's referring to there. i would say this sort of parlor game of trying to guess who the source was really misses what we think is the crux of the story which are these allegations, these settlements which he initially denied and is now admitting, which we have seen in documentation, that, in fact, proves that there was at least one settlement. and you have now the lawyer for the woman who signed this settlement urging the national

restaurant association to release her from the confidentiality portion of it to allow her to talk about this to defend herself because she feels as if herman cain, "a" has violated the confidentiality agreement by talking about the settlement and also is smearing her by saying these are baseless charges. well, if the national restaurant association comes out and releases her from this confidentiality agreement, which we understand there is a great deal of pressure within the association to do, then i think we're going to be able to put that face to some of these allegations and he's going to have a harder time brushing them off as anonymous. >> well, the organization you're talking about, the national restaurant association, is very well connected in washington. 90% of their dues go to lobbying. i mean, they're well connected in the city. i would imagine a lot of people knew this was going on. now, i want to ask you, mr. slater, what's the limit here? how many women have to come out and complain about herman cain to keep this story going day after day before somebody in the republican party steps up and says, you know, make herman cain's not the right guy.

what's the right strategy politically here you think? >> it's not really the number of women, obviously if there are more allegations, then that's worse and worse for cain. it is the quality of that. everything that ken said was right. it really doesn't make any difference where the story came from, it's that the story, so far as written by "politico" turns out to be absolutely true or not significantly rebutted by anyone else. if one woman emerges and she is credible and the details of whatever allegedly happened are known, then herman cain is toast. you don't need four, five, six women. this is a real, real problem. of course, the political implications of this is, who wins? romney doesn't win if this happens. perry wins. the person who's going to be the anti-romney in the race. it's too soon to say that's going to happen, that herman cain won't be vindicated. at the moment based on reporting from "politico" and other sources, herman cain has failed from the begin to get ahead of this story, to say everything he knows and is suffering as a result.

>> ken vogel, wayne slater, great to have you with us tonight. thanks for your reporting. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen and share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. herman cain is the front-runner in many polls. a new ad by a pro-obama group shows who the democrats think the president will be facing next november. president obama is asking the top 2% to serve it up to rebuild america. i have a big eddie chart you won't want to miss. d investis across the country, from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn to financing industries that are creating jobs in boston or providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community and supporting training programs for tomorrow's workforce in los angeles. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make opportunity possible.

coming up, the cain campaign is imploding. rick perry's campaign is a mess. democrats are betting mitt romney will be the last man

standing. bill burton's group, priorities usa has a new ad you won't want to miss. later msnbc's martin bashir will join me. today, president obama got a double digit boost in approval rating and out promoting his jobs act calling out republicans by name. i love it. stay tuned. [ female announcer ] from the moment we arrive... we don't want anything to slow us down so it's surprising that most women aren't getting enough calcium. with over 25 flavors, yoplait original gives you 50% of the daily value of calcium in every cup. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth.

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blaming rick perry. rick perry's campaign is blaming mitt romney. and mitt romney, well, he's quietly going about his business to secure the republican presidential nomination. washington democrats are taking mitt romney very seriously. in a new ad from a pro-obama political action group, gives us an idea of how the president will run against the former massachusetts governor. joining me tonight is bill burton, former deputy press secretary under president obama and senior strategist for priorities usa action, the group responsible for the new ad. bill, good to have you with us tonight. first off, does the cain situation change the game plan for the republicans as you see it? >> look, i don't think he was ever that serious of a candidate. his policy prescriptions weren't that serious. his base of support i don't think was all that serious. what it said more than anything was how nervous republicans were about having mitt romney as their nominee.

now, i have no doubt that they'll all rally around someone at the end of the day, but i think people have been so desperate in the republican party to find somebody who is not mitt romney that they even settled on herman cain for a little while. i think that's probably very short lived. >> so you're saying that herman cain has never been a primetime player? and i mean, i think it's evidenced in the ad that you focused have put out. i want the viewers to see your ad. here it is. >> okay. thanks. >> governor romney, are you a member of the tea party? >> hey, i'm for the tea party. i believe in a lot of what the tea party believes in. >> governor romney, you're campaigning as the man who can fix the economy. let's look at your record, sir. two u.s. plants were closed, 2,000 workers were laid off. laid off. >> of course they are. everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. where do you think it goes? >> upper income wall street. >> they're with romney. >> is romney. >> don't try to stop the foreclosure crisis. let it hit the bottom.

>> bankrupt. bankrupt. >> when you were governor, massachusetts ranked 47th in job growth. >> i would have favored justices like scalia and thomas. they can invest in things like our stock market or the world stock market. there are a lot of reasons not to elect me. it's not a very pretty picture, is it? >> bill burton, it's pretty easy to come to the conclusion that you think mitt romney is the guy president obama is going to have to beat. what do you think? >> it does look like mitt romney is probably going to be the republican nominee. he's in the strongest position in the polls, the strongest position in money. he's had a very stable campaign, but here's the thing about that ad is that even though it's very specific on mitt romney and paints a picture of what america would look like if his vision

were to be able to come to life, a lot of those things that mitt romney says that he's for, all the republicans are for. all the republicans put the wealthiest americans ahead of the middle class. all of the republicans would want to stack the supreme court with justices that would put corporations first, that would take away a woman's right to choose. all the republicans stand the same, for the same kind of right wing ideology that is so far outside of the american mainstream that we felt it was important that we get out with what the contours and choice are going to be between the president and whoever the republican nominee. it looks like it's going to be romney but will be ready for whomever in case it's somebody else. >> are you jumping the gun? is there a chance somebody else could get it other than romney in your opinion? >> there's certainly a chance somebody else could get in. it's interesting. one of the most important things about this republican primary in

2011 so far is it looks like right now the dogs just won't eat the dog food. romney has been running for president five, six years. in iowa he's at 23%. five years and $100 million ago, he was at 29% in iowa. it's not a great return for a business guy, but even so, it does look like romney's in the strongest position, even though 75% to 80% of republicans are nervous and not totally comfortable with him being at the top of the ticket. >> i know you're not too high on herman cain. he has the 9-9-9 plan. here's mitt romney's economic plan. extend all the bush tax cuts. cut corporate taxes. eliminate estate taxes. i mean, it would seem to me that none of this would fit very well with the 99% movement. or will it? what do you think? >> no, i don't think that it would. there's a lot of anxiety in the middle class about student loans, about mortgages, about a whole host of things. the fact of the matter is if

this kind of economic policy worked, tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the middle class, then right now we'd be chiseling george w. bush into the side of mt. rushmore. it doesn't work. we need a new direction. >> are the republicans going to be stuck with mitt romney at the end of the day? newt's down at 10%. he just hasn't been taken seriously by enough conservatives. romney, does he still have problems with the conservative base? i would answer that question, yes, he does. i mean, is this the best of the worst? what do you think? >> i think that romney probably is not as solid with conservatives as rick perry or herman cain or michele bachmann or rick santorum. i think that's definitely the case. if he's the nominee, you can bet conservatives will circle the wagons and be behind him in second. i've seen polling that suggests even tea party conservatives think that romney would be an acceptable candidate. that's why we thought it was important to let folks know what a country with mitt romney as president would like in that ad on our website. >> bill burton, good to have you with us. thanks for your time tonight.

if herman cain can't get past his alleged sexual harassment problems, he still has a world of trouble ahead. he's open to war with iran? and he doesn't know china has nuclear weapons. that qualifies him for the "zone." ohio republicans are telling voters that they have to vote yes on issue 2 or their kids will leave them. the righties are getting desperate in ohio. and in "psycho talk" ♪ ♪ ♪ walk, little walk

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and in "psycho talk" tonight, herman cain's problems

keep piling up. his foreign policy expertise has never been anything to write home about. it's getting worse. cain went on o'reilly's show last night looking out for everybody and said he didn't have a problem with iran attacking american ships? >> i would double the number of ballistic missile defense capable ships that are warships and strategically place them in the world. iran understands only two things. economic pressure and our military might. >> you're going to put the warships in the persian gulf? because they'll attack them. you know they're going to try to do something if you do that, put them there. >> that would be perfectly all right. >> oh, herman cain's war mongering gets even scarier. the man has no clue. seems like he's trying to outdo john mccain. he wants to take a shot at china. >> you view china as a potential military threat to the united states. >> i do view china as a potential military threat to the united states. >> and what -- >> yes, they're a military threat.

they've indicated that they're trying to develop nuclear capability. >> bingo. hold it right there. china's not trying to develop nuclear capability. china already has nuclear capability. in fact, they've had nukes since 1964. in 2008, china had an estimated 240 nuclear warheads. herman cain makes sarah palin's foreign policy sound smart. >> as putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the united states of america, where do they go? it's alaska. it's just right over the border. you can actually see russia from land here in alaska. >> well, maybe not smart, but when herman cain says it's perfectly all right for iran to attack american ships, and when he doesn't know china has a nuclear program, he's spouting some pretty scary "psycho talk." president obama is kicking tail and names on the jobs bill. the american people responding big-time. that's next. and later, the republican

blame game continues. will herman cain survive this scandal? martin bashir will join me to sort it out. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon.

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for a free brochure, call the number on your screen. president obama is on the offensive against the republican do-nothing congress for sabotaging the economy. the house of representatives still hasn't voted on president obama's jobs act and probably never will. on tuesday, the house found time to pass a measure to reaffirm "in god we trust" as the national motto. >> there are a number of public officials who forget what the national motto is, whether intentionally or unintentionally. there are those who've become confused as to whether or not it can still be placed on our buildings, whether it can be placed in our school classrooms. >> today the president nailed republicans for wasting the taxpayers' time. >> see, construction workers, they want to do their jobs. we need congress to do theirs. in the house of representatives, what have you guys been debating, john? you've been debating a

commemorative coin for baseball? you had legislation reaffirming that "in god we trust" is our motto. that's not putting people back to work. i trust in god, but god wants to see us help ourselves by putting people back to work. >> senate republicans get another chance to put the american people back to work when the rebuild america jobs act is voted on tomorrow. the $60 billion package would create 170,000 construction jobs and another 150,000 jobs in related industries. president obama named names to pressure republicans to pass the bill. >> i can't imagine that speaker boehner wants to represent a state where nearly one in four bridges is classified as substandard. the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell visited the closed bridge in kentucky that i was talking about.

he admitted, look, roads and bridges are not partisan in washington. that's a quote from him. paul ryan, the republican in charge of the budget process, recently said, you can't deny that infrastructure does create jobs. what's holding us back? let's get moving and put america back to work. >> so let's do the numbers. there are 308 million americans, the infrastructure bill will be paid for by, get this, a .7% tax on all income over $1 million. who's it effect? the tax is going to hit 345,532 millionaire taxpayers. that means, folks, only .2% of americans will be effected. just these folks right here, all of these folks right here, 99.8%

of the american people would not have to pay a single penny to pass this jobs bill. you know the chart that i love to show, with the blue line down here with the middle class americans and the red line where all the top 2%ers are and where they've been the last 30 years? some of them might get away with it at the red line. it is 0.2%. come on, serve it up, will you? i bet the republicans don't. not one vote. let's bring in katrina vanden heuvel, editor and publisher of "the nation" magazine. katrina, great to have you with us tonight. >> thank you. >> i tell you what, have we seen the president this strong? i mean, he was strong today and this is a formula for success. what do you make of the -- >> you've got a congress which has achieved -- republican congress -- which has achieved the remarkable fete of making itself less popular than the bankers and wall street. the president is out there

talking in feistier ways. he's got his mojo on. america can't wait. it reminds a little of, yes, we can, and i think he needs to stay on this message and me he needs to expose a do-nothing congress, especially around what you just showed, this jobs bill. i mean, ronald reagan was for an infrastructure bill, taxpayer-funded infrastructure bill. i think, you know, the vast majority of americans want jobs and want relief. >> why are his poll numbers going up? >> because he's speaking, he's using his executive power and, listen, there's always concern about overuse, abuse of executive power. we saw with george w. he's using it to talk about trying to give relief to homeowners with mortgages, student debt relief. on a whole slew of things. and he's showing himself to be a man of action. because for too long, this gop congress has achieved what was once mission impossible, which is to increase distrust in government. we need to recapture and reclaim

government. he's showing, president obama, that he can speak in a way that can relate to people's lives. the danger, ed, is the supercommittee. it is coming upon us, and the danger is the shift back to austerity and cuts away from jobs. and president obama needs to stand firm in terms of what vast majorities of americans say. protecting social security and medicare, investment in jobs, ending two wars and bringing that money to reinvest in this country and higher taxes on the wealthiest. >> the president's gone up six points in the last month. he's talking about jobs. he's been out on the road. he's connecting with the 99%. >> 99.8 -- you did that chart. 99.8%ers, ed. >> you can't deny it. the same poll shows the president beating everyone in the republican field. it's almost -- >> it's early. it's early. i mean, is this a sustained surge or is it a blip? and much of that will depend on a president responding to the movements of our time and occupy wall street and those around it have been speaking about these

issues for a long inequality, reinvestment in america, jobs and finding ways to make sure those who created this mess paid for it. >> john boehner was asked if americans are better off than they were four years ago. >> he wouldn't know. >> watch this. >> are you kidding me? ask the 14 million americans out of work why they're better off today than four years ago. >> katrina, president obama has the republicans where he wants them. backed into a corner. he set up the scenario of how good this would be and how selfish they are. i think it's a scenario he's going to play out and a pattern he's going to play out until november 2012. >> stay on it with deeds and continuing to expose people like boehner and what they stand for. your chart just showed it. their base is the .2%. president obama needs to speak about what he would do if he could get through the unprecedented abuse of the filibuster in the senate and a do-nothing congress. run against -- it's not a new

recipe. he's got to show who he stands with, ed, because for too long in this country, in these last years, people have felt this government is rigged against working people and those, the most vulnerable, don't balance this budget on the backs of those. >> do you think the democrats in congress are doing enough to help the president? i've always thought -- everybody talks about infrastructure and everything else. at the end of the day, when you build a bridge, you have something to show for it. you not only have a job, you have something to show for it. you built a school, a bridge, you built infrastructure, you got a highway, you make america better and it affects only a fraction, a very fraction of the population. so are the democrats in the congress doing enough to help this president right now? >> well, i think there are a lot of people in the house, ed, you know them, in the congressional progressive caucus, who want to do more in terms of investment than this president has. i think it's a two-way street. what we really need to look out for are the people like mitch mcconnell whose state has fallen

bridges in kentucky. and yet he gives a politics to it. because their first priority is to bring down a president, not to bring relief to their citizens in their state. but i think this president needs to work more closely with those in the house and in the senate who want to see a different america. and he's beginning, but nothing moves without pressure from outside. >> back to the supercommittee for just a moment. where's the president going to come down on this? i mean -- this is huge. if he does not -- >> this is a defining moment. >> if he does not protect social security, medicare, medicaid, if he doesn't keep the big three off the table, none of those democrats were sent to washington by the voters to chip away at the big three. of course, the republicans are going to be looking for big cuts. they're saying go big. the blue dogs are out there saying we have to go big. go big means hurt the old people, hurt the poor. >> i'd like to see this committee disbanded. if it's not, jobs first. don't get into a bidding war with the republicans because they will take you down. >> "the nation's" katrina vandal heuvel. thanks so much for being here

tonight. desperations are setting in for ohio governor john kasich and his allies. a new ad tells ohio voters their kids will leave the state and never come back if they vote no on issue 2. stay with us. ♪ sent her back to college for her sophomore year ♪ ♪ co-signed her credit card -- "buy books, not beer!" ♪ but the second that she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for her whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪ ♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. ♪ ♪ ♪ when the things that you need ♪ ♪ come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪

♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ these are not just the original occupy oakland protesters. these are folks who are part of unions and city businesses who say they wouldn't be anywhere else today. a number of people here actually told me they decided to pull their children out of school today because they felt this was something historic. >> that was the scene out in oakland, california, earlier today. thousands are taking to the streets in hopes of shutting the city down. oakland hasn't seen a citywide

strike like this since 1946. the goal is to shut down banks, corporations and the country's fifth largest port. the 99%ers are out there in full force. here's the report from nbc news. >> oakland's shutdown grew by the hour. nearly 400 teachers marched to protest the city schools. local labor unions encouraged their members to walk off the job. >> you see the people on the street, this is just beginning. >> demonstrations have been largely peaceful, although some vandalism has been reported. this is a broken window at the chase bank with a sign stating, "we are better than this." tonight, the "san jose mercury" news reports that protesters have shut down the port of oakland. thousands are now gathered at the port's gates. coming up, we're less than a week away from the election day in ohio. so what does governor john kasich have up his sleeve? we'll tell you next. ♪ ♪ let's go ♪ ♪ cruise like a norwegian

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by joining together, we will get people back to work. after all, we want our kids to

chase their dreams right here in ohio. >> vote yes on issue 2. >> you can smell the desperation of ohio governor john kasich and supporters of issue 2. polls show voters are prepared to repeal ohio's union busting law next tuesday. so kasich is going across the state telling people to vote yes on the issue 2 for the kids. a new ad by building a better ohio, a pro-issue 2 group, is pushing the same message. >> you give them life. you give them love. you give them hope. but as ohio fails to give our children opportunity, they're chasing their dreams far from home. by voting yes on issue 2, we'll improve our economy and our kids can find work and success here in ohio. because if we don't offer our children a future here, they'll have to make their future somewhere else. give them a better ohio. vote yes on issue 2.

>> you know, the only thing missing from that ad is a mushroom cloud at the end. issue 2 supporters want to scare ohio voters into thinking that their children will leave them and never return? like the rest of the country sucks and nobody's ever left ohio before? i mean, the ad literally makes it look like these kids, who are no more than 9 or 10, will get up and leave today unless you get out there and vote yes on issue 2. give any a break. i mean, the group is trying to defeat issue 2, doesn't have to rely on fantasy fear mongering. reality is on their side. we believe ohio is not afraid to show the real people who are targeted by the senate bill 5. firefighters, teachers, nurses, police officers, librarians. these are real people. if issue 2 goes down, it will be a major victory for workers' rights. don't forget, "the ed show" will be live in columbus, ohio, next monday and tuesday to cover this very important vote. it will have national ramifications.

a little pep talk in the locker room tonight if i may. it's up to us as liberals, as those who care about workers and the midle class in this country to get our team ready. this whole vote is about fairness, it's about safety, it's about quality of life, and it's about what's just doing right by communities and by families. and really, i think that ad that kasich is supporting is somewhat of a cheap shot. fear mongering, telling families that their kids are going to leave and they're never going to come back because firefighters, teachers and hardworking americans in ohio are going to have a chance at a little bit more safe conditions at work and also they'll have a voice at the bargaining table. that's going to drive a lot of kids out of ohio, don't you think? next, how do we keep track

of the growing scandal surrounding herman cain? i got a flowchart you're just not going to want to miss. i mean, it's a dandy. martin bashir is with me. he'll tell you all about it, too. [ male announcer ] what if we told you that cadillac

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survey tonight on "the ed show," i asked you, will herman cain's campaign survive this scandal? 17% of you say yes. 83% of you say no. coming up, the gop 2012 field, it is falling apart. with herman cain's scandal and rick perry's dropping poll numbers, who will republicans turn to? martin bashir and i talk it over next. [ male announcer ] you never know when a moment might turn into something more. and when it does men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. ♪ [ man ] tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity.

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welcome back to "the ed show." well, it was a bad day for the republicans. herman cain is at the center of a growing scandal and trying to bring others down with him. it's difficult to keep track. i mean, it is difficult to keep track of all these moving parts. to help you out tonight, we've created an "ed show" flowchart. first, women accuse cain. cain accuses perry.

perry accuses romney. romney, of course, awaits issue polling results. ron paul accuses the fed. michele bachmann slams cain. right wing talkers accuse liberals. liberals say, party! we love this stuff. and the fingerpointing gets worse. seriously. breaking news at this hour. we just find out the "washington times" reports the following. a friend of the cain campaign believes a national restaurant association employee out of the chicago office leaked the story to the perry campaign via information and influence from mayor rahm emanuel's office. we will continue to update the ed flowchart as developments warrant. i mean, everybody's coming onboard here, martin. great to have you with us tonight. what do you make of this circus? >> well, it's herman the hunter becomes herman the haunted. haunted by allegations not from one, not from two, but

reportedly from three different women. and these allegations against a man who said the following -- that we should have a mote with alligators in that will repel illegal immigrants. the blacks have been brainwashed into voting democratic. that the unemployed should blame themselves for the fact that they don't have work. and that u.s. naval assets should be placed in the persian gulf and we should provoke a war with iran. now, i ask you, a man who says those kinds of things, is it possible, is it just possible he may have said something inappropriate to a woman? >> pretty good chance. pretty good chance. >> very good possibility. >> do you think the perry campaign was involved in this? >> it's looking that way because of the connections, but it's hard to follow. there's a guy by the name of curt anderson who worked for cain's 2004 failed senate campaign who apparently was debriefed about these allegations. he now works for a pro perry super pac and alleged to leak the things. now ray sullivan, a perry spokesman says, no, no, it's team romney because they have a perry backer who apparently has a connection with the nra. the whole thing is -- it's a kind of web.

it reminds me of the great tony montana from "scar face" who says i always tell the truth even when i lie. >> the cain campaign is saying this has everything to do with race. what do you think? >> that's an amazing claim. here's the reason. herman cain, throughout this campaign, has done everything to render that defense impossible. he says that despite the disproportionate effect of poverty among african-americans, the disproportionate number of black african-american men in prison, he says the virulent racism in america no longer exists. he says that. he describes himself in his book as being equivalent to the acronym abc, american, black and conservative. throughout the campaign he crushes his identity between those two. now he wants to claim racism. >> he's raising money. the best fund-raising he's had in the past few days. is his campaign going to survive this? >> congressman elijah cummings said voting and spending money on herman cain makes the far right feel comfortable about being non-racist and supportive of a black man. >> where do cain voters go if he doesn't make it? is perry getting the upside of it?

>> look at the quinnipiac poll today. he sunk. romney is still at 23%. that's been the case for eight years. where are the voters going to go? i'm not so sure. here's an important thing to consider, ed. republican primary voters hearing the mainstream media has been pursuing herman cain, and the way we saw pictures earlier today, are going to lap this up. they're not going to believe anything that you or i report. they are going to rush to his defense. actually i think these allegations might well benefit him. >> this breaking news just in from "the new york times." they are reporting that the woman accusing herman cain of sexual harassment will not go public. she did meet with her attorney late this afternoon. so obviously there has been a decision made. "the new york times" reporting tonight that the woman accusing herman cain of sexual harassment will not go public.

99.999% of the american people don't know who she is. she has a great deal of anonymity to it. will this back the media off? >> i don't think so, because remember, there's not just one. there are three women concerned. >> yeah. >> also there are other people, like, for example, a guy called chris wilson who alleges that he actually saw and witnessed this kind of thing going on. so there are other witnesses around. >> is cain arrogant enough to stay in race no matter what? >> oh, absolutely. he's selling a book. he's raising funds. everybody knows when you ask him questions about serious policy, whether it's economics or foreign policy, he flounders, but he's loving this -- it's been a tough day today. i think he'll stay in. >> martin, great to have you with us tonight. after i do the radio show at 3:00 in the afternoon, i'm locked in watching your "a" block. i'm hooked. >> now you're lying. >> no, i'm not. no, i'm not.