sacred principles at home. so a sign for hope and hard-needed evidence of what we can do in this country and in the world when we work together, right and left, gay and straight, black and white. it's simple. in fact, it's basic. but oh, so powerful. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for bei w good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show." tonight from new york, the attack on the middle class is happening all across this country. companies are making record profits, and ceos are lining their pockets. meanwhile, blue-collar workers are losing their paychecks, their pensions, and their livelihoods. it's what this show is about. and this is why the 99% is standing up. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> once the cold starts coming in, the heat bills are going to rise. and yeah, it's going to get worse. >> the culture of corporate greed at american airlines.

american crystal sugar. and now cooper tires is destroying the middle class. these are the three most important stories in america. and we'll talk about it with former labor secretary robert reich. herman cain's campaign is still trying to hang on. >> one of my objectives is to clear my name. >> while the newtster is measuring the drapes. >> i'm going to be the nominee. >> gingrich is now crushing mitt romney with an{ assist from fox news. i'll ask bill press and stephanie miller if he can hang on. and republicans are literally scared of the 99% movement. spinmeister frank luntz has a plan to help republicans defeat the will of the people. we'll ask former congressman alan grayson all about it. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. breaking news at this hour. we are expecting the united states senate to vote on the middle-class payroll tax cut. we'll bring you the results of that vote when it happens.

but first the big story tonight. there is an attack on workers taking place in the united states of america. many people know this. corporate greed has changed everything. that's why people are in the streets. and we have developed a culture in this country in which workers, they're just not worth a damn. now, the fight's taking place all over this country. it's probably even in your back yard. you don't have to go far to find a story like this. but tonight i'm going to give you three unrelated stories from the news, and they all have the same conclusion. people at the top are getting paid millions, and the workers are getting screwed. first, american airlines. the company filed chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week, despite having $4 billion in cash on hand. now more than 100,000 workers and retirees will find their pensions underfunded. then you have the story of cooper tires in finley, ohio, a city of 40,000 people. union workers at cooper tires

were working without a contract and were locked out during negotiations. these workers, the last time around they gave up $30 million in concessions in the last deal over three years.{ but it isn't enough for a company making $100 million in profits. now cooper is threatening to reopen the doors with other workers who get paid less. then there's my back yard. morehead, minnesota. home to american crystal sugar. 1,300 workers have been locked out for the past five months. they've had the nerve to demand a fair labor contract with this company that has made millions. excuse me. over a billion. crystal sugar ceo david berg, well, he should have nothing but gratitude for his workers. in 2011 he made $2.4 million in total compensation. american crystal sugar had a record year of 1.5 b, billion dollars in revenue. the workers apparently don't deserve to benefit from those profits.

and they're out of work. >> is this winter going to be kind of tough for you if things don't get straightened out for you? >> well, once the cold starts coming in, the heat bills are going to rise and, yeah, it's going to get worse. >> now, this isn't just the private industry money taking place here, folks. you see the sugar beet farmers in america, they get tax dollars. your tax dollars. sugar beet subsidies in the past 15 years total over $240 million for the growers. now, here are the top ten recipients of sugar beet subsidies. you can see most of these are from farmers from north dakota and minnesota. their neighbors are the ones that are being hurt by all of this, this lockout. why are we giving money to sugar beet farmers and to the sugar beet industry while their executives make millions and the workers get screwed? is that fair? david berg said his company has the support of the farmers in keeping the workers shut {out. >> i think if i could sum it in three words, it would be don't back down.

we communicate very actively to make sure that we're on the same page with them. >> berg doesn't think highly about the people who made him rich. at a recent shareholder meet ing ing he compared his workers to a terminal disease. >> i have a friend in fargo, 50-something-year-old man. he didn't feel well for a long time. couldn't put his finger on it. didn't know exactly what it was. went to the doctor several times, couldn't figure it out. finally got a cat scan. they determined there was some kind of growth and they did surgery. they removed a 21-pound tumor from him. that was a scary deal. he was sick for a long time. he didn't have energy. he couldn't eat. he couldn't digest. and i'm not saying a labor contract is cancer, but it affects you, it will drag you backwards. you can't do what you need to do. >> so a company that does a billion and a half in revenue, the workers, hell, they're nothing but a cancer.

so here we have, folks, three stories in three different industries in three separate parts of the country. it doesn't matter what they make. it doesn't matter where they come from. it's the culture of how workers are treated in america these days. there is an industry probably in your hometown you can relate to. it main be sugar. it might not be tires. it might not be the airlines. but all over this country corporations are making record profits and laying off workers. shipping jobs overseas and rejecting union contracts. workers help these companies make a boatload of money. but the people at the top think the workers, well, they're a sickness. i don't like it when i see people getting crapped on for working hard so someone else at the{ top can do so much better. the greed will only stop when the american people make it stop. and you need to look at what is happening in the streets of america. that's why these folks are out, and that's why this is the 99% movement and why it's taking

place and why it's so very much alive. now, we're going to have a farm bill coming up in the near future, and the question of these sugar subsidies is going to come up. now, think about this. understand this. these farmers in this part of the country, they get subsidized. does your business get subsidized? okay. we've got a cheap food policy in america, and it's important to feed people and let low-income people go to the grocery store, and so they can buy food. and sugar is one of the very few industries that gets subsidized. but the farmers who are getting subsidized, they're making millions. and they're taking millions. the numbers don't lie. and what's happening to the workers at the sugar beet plant? well, hell, we don't want to pay them. we're talking about workers that make $30,000, $40,000, and $50,000 a year. and you want to know where america's going? whether it's the airline industry or whirlpool, what they've done to their workers, or american airlines, they're

going to follow suit, with united and us airways. and you've got all of these other big shot companies out there that just depress wages. so the profit can get to the top and only a few can get the money. that's why the people are in the streets. and for bill o'reilly to say that this movement is dead, i think the guy's lost his mind. he is so totally out of touch. totally out of touch. but you know what? money does funny things to people. when you getin that graph that i show often on this program, when you get to be a red liner you don't give a damn about anybody else. this is why i have a great deal of respect for the progressive movement. they still have a heart. they still have a pulse. and they still care about workers. it ain't all about profit. it country wasn't built just because somebody figured out how to make a dollar. this country was built, the great 50 states of america, this country was built because people cared about their neighbor and people weren't selfish. people cared about the next generation. and apparently, all of that has

left the building and the only thing we care about now is the board, my ass, the shareholders, and what's in it for my family, screw everybody else. you know, one third of this country lives in poverty. what's going to happen if all of those people get together and go in the streets? do we have enough law enforcement to handle that? do we have enough governors with power to call out the national guard to hold the people back? i don't know if that's where we're going. you tell me. you send me a text if you think that's where america's going. because you can go anywhere on this map across this great country and you're going to find greed. this country has developed a culture that i don't think our forefathers would be proud of. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, are ceos

taking advantage of middle-class workers for their own gain? text a for yes. text b for no to 622639. you can always go{ tower blog at ed.msnbc.com. and we'll bring you the results. this is one of those nights that i feel like i wish i had two shows. you know that promo that's running on this network? i could just keep talking forever about these greedy son of a guns at the top that only think about themselves. what if the guys that hit omaha beach, what if they only thought about themselves? there's a lot of people -- and the righties, they talk about how they love their veterans. they just talk about how they love the military, they love the veterans. it's screwing them, too. what if they said, no, i don't want to hit the beach. no, i don't care about freedom. i'm going to go home. would these ceos have a chance to live free the way they are and do what they want to do? america wasn't supposed to operate like this. cooper tires is not supposed to crap on workers after they make

$100 million in findlay, ohio. and i will tell the democrats this tonight. you stand with workers and you will own the house. you stand with workers and you will own the senate. and president obama will be able to get his agenda through that will help every american, not just the 1%. that's what 2012 is all about. period. joining me now is rod nelson. he is the president of the united steel workers local 207 in findlay, ohio. mr. nelson, good to have you with us tonight. i want to know -- >> thank you. >> i want to know what your workers are going through. what are cooper tire workers asking for? what do you want in this contract? what's being rejected? tell us about it. >> we just want a fair shake, ed. that's all we want. we've been at the negotiating table since {september. and the company has not bargained with us. they had a contract there waiting for us. they haven't moved off that

contract very much. they want to ram it down our -- >> but i've got to ask you, what are you asking for? what do you want your workers to have? >> we want to be rewarded for bringing this company back to profitability. three years ago our company was in dire straits. they lost $219 million. and we had a contract. and we all got together and said we've got to bring this company back on its feet. we offered the company a $30 million in concessions, and it did. it brought them back to profitability. and what they've done with that money, they bought a plant over there in china, and they lined their own pockets. the top ceo had a 50% wage increase, and they got plenty of big bonuses to go along with that. >> okay. i am told that you want your workers to get another 50 cents an hour. is that correct? >> that's our proposal. >> your proposal. >> they won't even entertain

that. >> your proposal's 50 cents an hour. on an eight-hour day that's four hours a day. that's $20 a week. that's a little over $1,000 a year raise. is that correct? >> that's correct. >> okay. for a company that made $100 million and they're shutting you out and they're going to bring in other workers that will do it cheaper. is that what the story is? >> that is correct. >> so what are your workers going to do at this point? you are working without a contract. you're working without a contract, and theron n they lock the doors. so what are your workers going to {do? >> we're manning the picket lines right now. we've got about 40 workers out there. and we've got their families in here tonight. we've got their families here tonight. it should be a time when they're out christmas shopping. it shouldn't be a time when we're worrying about where we're going to get our next meal at. >> now, i said $100 million. did i say it correctly? i want to hear it from you. how much did cooper tire make last year?

>> last year it was $120 million. and this year they're doing pretty good, too. >> merry freaking christmas. rod, stay with us. i want to bring in robert reich, former secretary of labor, currently a professor at uc berkeley, and author of the book "after mr. reich, what do you think when you hear this story? >> well, ed, what i think is not only about greed and also about the plight of average working people, but i think about the whole american economy. i mean, who's going to buy all the goods and services and things that companies make if americans don't have the money in their pockets to buy them? we used to have a basic bargain in this country. and that basic bargain was workers got enough pay to turn around and buy the things that workers created. in 1914 henry ford paid his workers three times what the average factory workers got. and you know something? why did he do that? even though the "wall street journal" called him an economic criminal.

he did it baud he says those workers are going to turn around and buy the model t fords that are coming off this assembly line, and they did. >> so we have developed, mr. reich, a culture in this country, go after workers. it doesn't matter what they do. if they're a wage earner, doesn't matter if they're organized or not, we treat them like furniture and move them around and sit on them and throw them out. that's where american workers are right now. or is that an overstatement? >> unfortunately, it's not an overstatement. look at the data, ed. we learned just very recently, commerce department came out with this report, that profits as a percentage of the total economy are higher now than they've been since 1929, since before the great depression. but wages as a percentage of the total national economy are the lowest point they've been since 1929. >> what recourse do these workers have, mr. reich? what would you tell our other gentleman tonight, rod necklace snon what would you tell him? >> well, under the labor laws they have some recourse, but the labor laws are not strong enough, ed. i mean, that's the problem we have right now.

when we have an economy that is based essentially right now on the idea that a very few people at the top get everything, that ceo pay is now 300 times the fay of an average worker. it was only 30 times the pay of an average worker 30 years ago. when that's the case, we need stronger labor laws. we need an economy that's working for average working people. or otherwise this economy's not going to work for anybody. >> rod nelson, robbed reich, thanks for your time tonight. i'm going to tell our audience i'm going to be up in the red river valley in minnesota this weekend with a camera, and i'm going to talk to the families that have been locked out of american crystal sugar and i'm going to continue to do this story. and i'm also going to continue to publicize -- to give publicity to those farmers who have gotten subsidies in the sugar industry. you tea partiers out there, you should be asking the question why in the hell are we subsidizing the sugar industry? we shouldn't have to do that. we've got to cut federal spending, don't we?

remember to answer tonight's question there at the bottom of the screen and share your thoughts on twitter using the hashtag{ edshow. i want to know what you think. coming up, republicans are giving in on the payroll tax cuts. but they want to pay for them by cutting 200,000 jobs. anti-tax lobbyist grover norquist is urging them to stay the course and protect the 1%. meanwhile, frank luntz is teaching the gop how to lie about the 99% movement. alan grayson is here to respond to that. stay with us. we're right back. we eamed a $500 cream. for about $30 regenerist micro-sculpting cream hydrates better than over 20 of america's most expensive luxury creams. fantastic. phenomenal. regenerist. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk.

coming up on "the ed show," republicans pretend to compromise on the payroll tax but democrats are holding strong and standing up for the middle class. congressman tim ryan joins me next. herman cain says his wife didn't know anything about ginger white until she saw her on tv. i'm home, honey. and new polling has newt gingrich way ahead of the rest of the gop pack. let us know what you think on

twitter using the edshow hasht.

as usual, the only real target of this republican meat ax is the american middle class. the only people in america who believe that the richest of the rich shouldn't contribute just a little bit to help our economy are the senate republicans. >> the battle over extending the payroll tax cuts for middle-class americans raged in congress today. at this hour the senate is preparing to vote on two versions of the tax cut bill. democrats, they want to cut the payroll tax by 3.1% and offset it with a surtax on millionaires. republicans want a smaller tax cut, and they want to pay for it by killing 200,000 federal jobs and freezing wages for three years.

both bills are expected to fail. house minority leader nancy pelosi summed it up, the{ absurd republican tax plan early this morning. >> i don't know what the middle class ever did to the republicans that they're so out to get them. you're saying you need the tax cut for the middle class so that it can create 400,000 jobs. and while we're doing it, we're going to eliminate 200,000 jobs. it doesn't make any sense. except it is -- it is consistent with the republican principle that they're here for the 1%. >> and she is right. they are out to get them. house republicans are feeling the heat, though. this morning they met with lobbyist grover norquist, the author of the infamous anti-tax pledge. house speaker boehner recently downplayed norquist's influence calling him some random guy. but now the random guy is shamelessly coaching boehner's caulk tous hold the line. republicans will protect the mega wealthy from tax increases at all costs, won't they? we're joined tonight by congressman tim ryan of ohio.

congressman, good to have you with us. >> good to be with you, ed. >> has the democratic caucus pretty much come to the conclusion you're not going to get any revenue out of the republicans, you're going to have to bite the bullet elsewhere? where is that? >> well, you're definitely not going to get it from the top 1% because that's exactly what they're doing. and it's a shame, and i think it's fueling the animosity that's happening on wall street and the occupy movement all the way down the line. and it's a shame. but if we're going to rebalance things we're going to have to ask the top 1% to help out and it seems like speaker boehner -- and my constituents keep saying that speaker boehner is ready, willing, and able to keep toeing the line for the top 1%. >> what's it going to take for something to get passed here? >> well, i think more noise out in the heartland. and i think you're doing it. and what's happening in ohio and what happened in ohio a few weeks is go is making some of that happen. but there's just got to be more { pushback from the american people. it's starting to happen, but it's just not quite penetrating washington, d.c. yet.

>> here's the hypocrisy. all of a sudden we've seen a new republican party. they are suddenly so concerned about making sure tax cuts are paid for. they didn't think that when the bush tax cuts were going through. they didn't want to offset them. what about it? >> well, you're exactly right. there's a little bit of a double standard here. two wars on the credit card. you see the bush tax cuts not paid for, draining the treasury. a prescription drug plan that went with nobody -- no republican in washington, d.c. asking how exactly are you going to pay for this, and now all of a sudden we're looking to make investments into education and transportation and everybody -- or a tax cut for the middle class that's going to save people about $1,000 per family in ohio and all of a sudden, you know, they're looking to pay for things. >> would you go along with cutting, trimming, reducing the federal workforce as part of a deal? would you go along with that? >> well, the workforce -- i don't think so, ed, because the workforce right now is the same size it was in the 1980s.

about 2.1 million people. so there's -- you're going to try to squeeze blood out of a turnip. and these are the same people that say they want more border security, we need to process passports faster, you know, we need more investments into certain agencies for oversight in different areas. and so you can't have it both ways. it's just not going to work. >> well, the president's economic council put out a report. and most of the people on there were republicans. and you may know this. but they said that we actually need more federal workers because we are losing the tourism industry to the tune of billions of dollars in this country because it's so hard for{ big companies to get their people into the united states because of the progs of the cessing he visas and whatnot and also doing background checks. so this republican party is so screwed up they don't even know what they want. they don't know how they want it. the only thing they know how to do, congressman-s listen to this turned blossom named grover norquist who is now coaching the republican colleagues again. what about that?

>> i think -- i believe, ed, that they're starting to drive them right over the cliff now. i mean, people in ohio do not want this kind of thing. as you said, there's got to be certain things that the government is able to do and do well like issuing passports and getting people coming in here, whether it's travel and tourism, or other things that the government has to do responsibly. so it's not about big government or small government. it's about whether or not the government we have actually works for the american people and helps business create wealth, whether it's transportation, roads and bridges, airports, affordable education, research and development, research into science, national institutes of health. these are things that we have to do if we're going to grow our economy. and when you demonize government across the board, you get what we got. >> congressman, do me a favor. go back to caucus and say big eddie says no caving on the bush tax cuts. i know that's coming. they're going to be throwing that out there. we're not going to extend the bush tax cuts.

is that where you are or is that -- >> yeah, of course. of course. we've been led down that bridge before. i'm not going there anymore. >> it didn't create jobs. we had this discussion a year ago in the lame duck session of congress. and it didn't do squat when it came to big job creation. >> and we are living under the bush tax{ code right here. so all these republicans that keep complaining about the economy, this, that, or the other, we're living under their rules. and it hasn't worked, it hasn't worked for 30 years. it's time to change the playup. >> tim ryan of ohio, good to have you with us tonight. >> always a pleasure, ed. thanks. >> michele bachmann reveals her ignorance on iran. then makes it worse with a bogus excuse. the minnesota congresswoman, she is in the zone next. ginger white is dishing the dirt on her love life with herman cain. meanwhile, the pizza man says his wife didn't know anything about their so-called friendship until ginger went public. you won't want to miss this. stay with us.

and in "psycho talk" tonight, congresswoman michele bachmann likes to brag about her seat on the house intelligence committee, but so far the minnesota republican isn't showing too much intelligence. you see, at an event in waverly, iowa bachmann accused president obama of allowing iran to develop nukes. and it went downhill from there. >> unfortunately, president obama gave the head of -- of

iran the luxury of time to develop that weapon. and he met with them with no preconditions. that's the problem that we have. i won't do that as president of the united states. you may have heard that there's a break-in at the british embassy and the british had to pull their people out. that's exactly what i would do. we wouldn't have an american embassy in iran. i wouldn't allow that to be there because they are a state sponsor of terror. >> of course, there is no american embassy in iran. it closed down 30 years ago when a group of islamic{ revolutionaries took it over and held 52 americans hostage for 444 days. it was kind of a big deal back then. something a presidential candidate and member of the house intelligence committee should probably know about. well, bachmann's campaign is trying to clean up the mess by denying she made a mistake at all. they released the following statement. "she was agreeing with the

actions taken by the british to secure their embassy personnel and was speaking in hypothetical." "that if she was president of the united states and if we had an embassy in iran she would have taken the same action as the brits. her remarks are being taken out of context." nice try. but i ain't buying it. we just played the entire clip. nobody cut anything up. that clip is the way it was in context, in its full, in its entirety. she's an airhead. the only thing bachmann made clear was that she is still spouting unintelligent psycho talk. you are looking live at the united states senate. they are voting right now on the democratic proposal of the payroll middle-class tax cut. it is expected to fail. then they will vote on the republican proposal for the middle-class tax cuts. and we will bring that to you as it happens. republican message man frank

luntz is teaching republicans how to talk to the 99%. alan grayson will take luntz to the schoolyard next. mitt romney gets angry with fox news, and now his campaign is doing damage control. is it too little, too late? bill press and stephanie miller are here. wait a second... with olay challenge that. new regenerist wrinkle revolution... relaxes the look of wrinkles instantly, and the look of deep wrinkles in 14 days. ready, set, smooth... regenerist. from olay.

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the spinmeister for the right wing is back, coaching, instructing, and directing the republicans on how to deal with this thing called the occupy movement. bill o'reilly might think it's dead, but frank luntz sure doesn't. the man who makes a living on schooling up republicans on how to win the sound chamber, well, he's back at it. frank luntz is scared of the { 99%. >> i'm so scared of this anti-wall street effort. i'm frightened to death. okay. they should occupy a job and take a bath. i get that joke.

but man, they're having an impact on what the american people think of capitalism. and so i'm trying to get that word removed and replace it with either economic freedom or free market. >> but man, he better be concerned because the 99% movement is winning. the 99% movement is having a major impact on america and how americans are viewing things. look at the scoreboard. it all started in wisconsin, where two democrats won recall seats. in ohio the workers stood up for their rights and defeated senate bill 5. and just this week didn't get much attention, but in the state of new hampshire they rejected the right to work law. big deal. workers in this country i think have got the republicans nervous. and luntz is telling the republican governors association, where he was in that sound bite, that look, you've got to learn how to talk to the stupid, the low-information voters. so here are the top ten. don't say "capitalism." don't do that.

because capitalism is wall street and wall street's ripping people off and there's no rules, we want deregulation, so the word "capitalism," it's a bad deal right now. so don't use that word. don't say that the government taxes the rich. instead, tell them that the government takes from the rich. that's right. the government just takes from people and the government's bad. they can't do anything right. they're stealing from the american people. that's their message there. number 3, republicans should jut$p!out winning the battle over the middle class. don't ever use the term "middle class." refer to them as hard-working taxpayers. have you noticed on this program i've told you that the republicans never use the term "middle class" in any kind of interview? now you're going to hear hard-working taxpayers a lot. number 4, don't talk about jobs, talk about careers. you see, if you go into a room and you talk about jobs, it doesn't hit enough people. if you talk about careers, oh, everybody can relate to a career.

but not everybody can relate to a job because there's too many damn unemployed people around. so don't talk about jobs. talk about careers. number 5, don't say government spending. doggone it, call it waste. everything the government does is wasteful. except of course when we go to iraq and afghanistan. they love that. number 7 -- number 6. don't ever say you're willing to compromise. now, this is huge. this is huge right here. because if you compromise, that's a sign of weakness. if you compromise, that's showing that you're not strong on your principles. and compromise means, hell, you actually have to work with a democrat. you don't want to do that. number 7, the three most important words that you can say to an occupier -- "i get it." in other words, go up to them. hey, i get it, i get it. you're really feeling their pain, and you know you don't give a damn. if you tell them you get it, they'll say oh, he gets, it i guess he must be a good guy.

number 8, out entrepreneur, in job creator. this is a big one, too. actually, they're all big. now, out entrepreneur. don't use the word "entreprgnui~anymore. well, it sounds too much like the french. the conservative and the republicans, they don't like the french anyway. so always refer to job creator. you know, it's easy. don't raise taxes on the job creators. number 9, don't ever, ever, don't ever ask anybody to sacrifice anything. hell, we're republicans! we're not about sacrifice. we're about taking. we take from the middle class. we take from the workers. sacrifice? not in our vovocabulary. and number 10, always blame washington. it's washington's fault. and if you blame washington, the low-information voter who's standing in front of you is going to say, well, he's not the problem. he's not washington. that's ralph. from rural america. who told me that the congress is bad. they can't do anything right.

let's bring in florida congressman alan grayson. they went over this guy. they got rid of this guy. they went after him. you know why? because alan grayson tells the truth. and he's running for congress again, and i hope he gets re-elected back into the congress. will this work, alan? this -- this luntz technique. will this work? >> no, it won't because even a dog knows when he's being kicked and the middle class in america has been kicked over and over again. there's no words they can come up with that are going to solve people's problems when there's 24 million people in this country who can't find full-time work, 50 million people who can't see a doctor when they're sick, 47 million people who rely upon the government to feed themselves, and 40 million people who live in homes where the mortgage is worth more than the home itself. those are problems that words are not going to solve. those are problems only solutions are going to solve. words don't make any difference. and it's{ pathetic. it's absolutely pathetic that

they think the answer, when their lies have been ex- posed is to come up with new lies. people want solutions. they're not going to settle for anything less. >> so why are the republicans after stomping all over workers for years, why all of a sudden is the light bulb on sneer what's happening here? >> i don't think the light bulb is on for them yet. they're still searching for the new life. the lie that's going to be able to paper all this over and somehow make it okay. if the people have no bread, let them eat cake. it's not going to work anymore. people are fed up. they see the problems in their own lives. and they're demanding solutions. that's what occupy wall street is all about. people saying it's not working for us anymore, it's not working for millions of people in america moirm anymore, we love this country, we have to fix it. >> how should the 99% combat this? >> oh, by voting out the scoundrels. that's always the answer. look for people who actually will have solutions to your

problems and give them power. and then when you give them power, you'll see solutions to your problems. it's that simple. >> well, you've got fox news over there. their lead guy is saying hey, the movement's dead, and that's a good thing. so what would you tell republicans right now? >> i'd tell the republicans to wake up. you know, when they tell people over and over again that by making things worse they will make it better, by telling people that for instance, if they eliminate medicaid somehow more people are going to be able to see a doctor, if we take away the right to declare bankruptcy somehow more people will get out from under their debts, over and over again they think by making things worse they can make things better.{ and it just doesn't work that way. it's that simple. >> i don't understand how the righties are going to explain the lack of the use of the word "sacrifice" when they say they support the troops because that's all the troops do for this country, is sacrifice. so i guess when they get around the troops they're going to have to break frank luntz's rule and

start talking about sacrifice because that's what they do. a.m., best of luck to you. great to have you with us tonight. >> thank you. >> thanks so much. the pizza man has some explaining to do. herman cain says his wife didn't know about his alleged mistress, ginger white, until she went public. uh-oh. that's next.

workers and lots and lots of businesses can get the benefit of this payroll tax cut, put

and it's probably a safe bet that if he's not there already the pizza man is going to end up in the doghouse tonight. cain told the "new hampshire union leader" that his wife, gloria, did not know about the so-called relationship, friendship with ginger white until mrs. white came forward alleging a 13-year affair. cain admitted he gave mrs. white money to take care of

month-to-month bills and expenses without telling the missus. >> my wife now knows. my wife and i have talked about it. and i have explained it to her. and you know, my wife understands that i'm a giving person. my wife is comfortable with the explanation that i told her. >> cain says he won't make a decision about his candidacy until he meets with his wife face to face. and told the "union leader" editorial board, yes, getting out of the race is an option. cain does not know why ms. white went public. but -- >> i have a very strong speculation speculation. >> yeah? that? >> someone offered her a lot of money. >> meanwhile, a pac supporting herman cain came out with another winning ad to combat the latest allegations made by ms. white. their proof that cain is telling the truth --{ some guy in atlanta with an expensive lie detector technology says so.

>> it's time for the truth. the media won't tell you what one of the foremost lie detector experts in america said about herman cain. >> in my exam he's being truthful. but the allegations of saying she's been sexually assaulted by him did not occur. >> now that you know the truth, let's focus on what matters. >> well, that's it. that solves it. but ginger white is not backing down. she told wxia earlier, "i couldn't imagine me having sex with someone and lying about it." and she's giving details of their first encounter. she said, "he sang larry graham's one in a million to me there in the restaurant. it was full of fantasy that weekend." so is it all over for herman cain? newt gingrich seems to think so. he says he's going to be the party's nominee. stephanie miller and bill press weigh in on that next. the circus continues.

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taking advantage of middle-class workers for their own gain? 98% of you said yes. 2% of you said no. that fits the chart, doesn't it? coming up, newt gingrich is confident he's going to be the gop nominee while mitt romney's star is fading fast at fox news. stay tuned. m@n@=@sñññ

i'm going to be the nominee. i mean, it's very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high, i'm going to be the nominee. >> that was newt gingrich

speaking with abc news earlier. and the way things are going, he ju[t might be right. the latest polling out in florida shows that beginning rbi building on his massive lead over mitt romney, 50% to 19%. and for herman cain, who won the states straw poll earlier this year just a couple of months ago, his support has dwindled to just 10% of gop primary voters in florida. meanwhile, the fallout continues over mitt romney's contentious interview with fox news. >> you're wrong, brett. >> no, no, i'm -- >> brett. i don't know how many hundred times i've said this too. this is an unusual interview. >> now brett baer is spilling the beans to bill o'reilly. here it is. >> he thought it was overly aggressive. >> he did. he said that to you? he said it was overly aggressive? >> he did. >> wow. >> and as we were walking in the walk and talk and then after we finished he went to his holding room and then came back and said -- >> son of a gun. there's trouble in the frat house, isn't there? let's bring in my brother and

sister in the liberal talk radio word. bill press, nationally syndicated radio host, and stephanie miller, host of the stephanie miller radio show. great to have you with us tonight. >> hi, steph. >> stephanie, i understand that mitt romney's going to be going on "fox and friends" tomorrow morning where the questions apparently get a hell of a lot easier. but how is mitt going to win the nomination if he ticks off fox news? >> yeah. those are some gotcha questions on fox news, right? i mean, you know, ed, you know a candidate's in trouble when the dnc can run a flip-flop ad, the same ad the rnc could run. anyone could run this ad on mitt romney. an eighth-grade civics class could run this ad. he has flip-flopped on every single issue. >> bill, how does he get the mojo back? >> i don't know whether he can. i mean, look, here's the{ gotcha question, right? the gotcha question is there are 11 million people here illegally in this country, so you say they need a path to citizenship. are you going to let them stay here or are you going to send them all back to mexico?

that's really a tough question. that's a yes or no answer, right? mitt romney can't even deal with it. look, i've got to tell you, ed, i'm a religious man, right? i get down on my knees, i pray every night that mitt loses and newt gingrich becomes the republican nominee. >> well, chris christie, who is a mitt romney supporter, he was down in florida trash-talking newt gingrich today. i mean, the race apparently is going to start heating up. stephanie, how is this going to work out now that the governor of new jersey's jumping into this thing? >> well, and that's -- he's adding considerable weight to this race. but i don't even know what to say, ed. herman cain versus, you know, newt gingrich, it's like an admitted adulterer against an alleged adulterer. is this what's become of the family values party? is this what's become of the moral values party? i don't even know what to say. it's just -- a comedian couldn't write this any better.

>> ed, here's what's so funny. the tea partiers are saying we've got to walk away fromcheated on his wife. so we're going to go with a guy who cheated on two wives. where's the logic in that? but newt really thinks, he showed that earlier with jake tapper tonight when he said he was going to be the nominee. he's got this messianic complex. i talked to a consultant today. newt called this guy. i won't give you his name. called this guy and told him that he was destined to be the president of the united states. that's pretty >> stephanie, why is newt gingrich all of a sudden just skyrocketing? what has he done? >> i don't know. you know, god seems confused in this race, ed, because he's told several of the republican candidates that they should be president. and it's hard to believe that newt gingrich is somehow, i don't know. maybe all the rest were on call waiting and somehow -- it literally -- i have never seen a field like this.

have you? i don't know if this is going to make any difference, ed, but i have had a 13-year affair with both newt gingrich and herman cain. i don't know if that's going help or hurt. just thought i should tell you. >> gingrich is doubling down on his comments regarding child labor. and bill, this is one of the things about newt gingrich. he's a ticking time bomb. he just says stuff and throws it out, and some republicans are nervous about it. what about that? >> no. i mean, in fact, they say this is a guy with a lot of ideas. yeah, he's got a lot of ideas. he's got a lot of bad ideas. i mean, he wants to get rid, for example, of the child labor laws, and he doubled down today. he's not kidding. ed, and if you make them janitors in schools, by the way, throwing out the union janitors, so what's next? they're going to work in the shoe factories? on the assembly lines? >> i agree. i agree, ed. there's been far too much focus on how horrible a person he is. i don't think there's been naernly enough focus on how horrible his ideas are. >> bill press, stephanie miller, always great to have you with