cain and romney, worst week ever. let's play some "hardball." good evening. i'm michael smerconish in for chris math threws who is in new hampshire. leading off tonight, cain to make a major announcement tomorrow, or maybe not. when a sinking candidate says i'm going to make a major announcement, they are usually getting out. for cain, who knows. for cain and mitt romney who fumbled an interview at fox,

three words, worst week ever. meanwhile, the guy who benefits from the dead and dying plies around him is newt gingrich. he says he'll be the republican nominee. he's taking heat saying poor kids don't know the meaning of hard work. what is next in the crazy republican debate. it's scheduled for december 27. this is not the "hardball" side show, yet. it's really happening. plus, at least he shut up at the right studio. rick perry went on leno to make fun of his campaign missteps. let me finish with the traveling circus this gop race has become. we start with cain and his big announceme announcement. howard fineman and chris

cillizza. herman cain said he was going to make a big announcement. let's listen. >> i'm reassessing because of all the media fire storm stuff. why? because my wife and family comes first. i have to take that into consideration. tomorrow in atlanta, i will be making an announcement. nobody is going to get me to make that prematurely. that's all there is to that. tomorrow, we are opening our headquarters in northwest georgia where we will also clarify, there's that word again, clarify exactly what the next steps are. >> chris cillizza, do you schedule a big announcement and say i'm staying in this race? >> no, not usually. back to earlier this week where his campaign, herman cain's campaign said he was going clarify in dayton, ohio, what

reassessing his candidacy meant. i tuned in. i listened to the whole speech. he gave his standard stump speech. he never mentioned reassessing the campaign. itis hard for me to believe this is a, i'm staying in or getting out. quickly, because it bugs me, herman cain said in the clip you just played. this media fire storm. no! that's not why he's reassessing. it's the allegations of sexual harassment and the affair. the media reported on those things. we did not allegedly do those things. >> let me follow up to that. howard fine, it's infidelity that may drive him from the race when sexual harassment didn't. i would have reversed the importance of the two. infidelity is a matter among

spouses. sexual harassment, a civil wrong is the public's business. do i have it mixed up. >> you may have the dynamics of the herman cain family mixed up. the big audience now is not the voters in iowa, new hampshire and south carolina, it's his wife and his family. i think that's what he's talking about. the way i read it, lynne wood, who is the atlanta based high powered attorney who is advising herman cain made it clear earlier in the week if he had his drothers, he would assume herman cain get out of the race. whatever lynne wood knows. the chairman said otherwise. who knows what herman cain is going to do. if he's going to open a new campaign office in northwest

georgia on the same day he's announcing he's getting out of the race, that's going to be a very short opening of an office in northwest georgia. >> mine is just an editorial statement how they poo-poo eed sexual harassment. >> i would add -- i would add to that, though, i think it's the totality of it. i think when it first came out, herman cain denied it, said there's nothing to it. it was a he said versus she said. then it wasn't one woman or two women, it was four women. on top of that, the allegations of the affair. i think the context of it is why you are seeing it impact more than it might have before. >> i think it's that. i also think the latest female

passes the smell test. that's my opinion. you look at her and she's got an err of credibility to her. yesterday, herman cain admitted his wife did not know about the most recent accuser, ginger white. white couldn't believe mrs. cain didn't know. let's listen to both. >> my wife did not know about it. that was the revelation and the surprise that my wife found out about it when she went public with it. if she was another man i helped, it probably wouldn't have raised as much suspicion. my wife is comfortable with the explanation i told her regarding, you know, having to help her. >> i would be surprised if she is surprised by this, honestly speaking. i would be surprised. i am deeply, deeply sorry, if i have caused any hurt to her, to his kids, to his family.

>> howard, he's been consistent. he's denied, denied, denied. he helped her because of a charitable instinct but didn't tell his wife of the good deeds. >> i think, as chris said, the totality of the circumstances of the life of herman cain is what's the problem here. beyond that, he's just handled everything so clumsy. republicans who might have been drawn to him as businessman can't look at him as politician. he blew off a meeting with an editorial board, refused to meet with them, then they endorsed newt gingrich. then herman cain, after the latest story comes out, decided to meet with the editorial board

who already decided whom they were going to support. it's another example of how poorly he's run the campaign. when you are a mystery man, you have come out of nowhere, it's what herman cain did. suddenly you are introduced to the american people. it's a case of first impression. the first impression people have of herman cain, 9-9-9 is a guy who gets around town in ways that are hard to explain. it's killing his campaign. >> chris, allow me to show this new ad. americans or herman cain. take a look at this one. >> it's time for the truth. the media won't tell you what one of the lie detectors said in america about herman cain. >> my exam is being truthful. the allegations saying she'd been sexually assaulted by him. >> let's focus on what matters.

he's a reagan conservative who can beat obama. his 9-9-9 plan can get americans working again. >> it looks like a guy who is able to look at his laptop and see color codes and determine if somebody is lying. >> yeah, the other thing, too, michael, the cain campaign went on with the new ad in iowa yesterday. here is what i think is happening. i think herman cain is almost in totally independent operator. his campaign is trying to carry on as though nothing else is different. herman cain is out there saying yes, we are reassessing, this is taking a toll on my wife. i'm not sure herman cain and the herman cain campaign are in that close of quarters. i don't know how else to explain the incredibly fumbled messaging. one minute he's in it to win it. then he's reassessing.

>> we are going to find out tomorrow. thank you howard fineman. the latest from newt gingrich. poor kids have poor work habits. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. nyquil: you know i relieve coughs, sneezing, fevers? tylenol: me, too. and nasal congestion. nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

welcome back to "hardball." the new front-runner in the polls, newt gingrich has interesting positions on child labor laws. he calls them stupid and suggested students can replace janitors in schools. he said poor kids have no work habits because no one around them works.

we're going to get to that in a moment. gingrich is leading in the polls. does that mean he's the nominee? he thinks so. it's what he said to abc news. it's not the first example of his ego on the trail. michelle bernard is an msnbc political analyst. steve covers politics for salon.com. here is what newt gingrich said in iowa about poor children. let's watch. >> really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works. so they literally have no habit of showing up on monday. they have no habit of staying all day. they have no habit of i do this and you give me cash, unless it's illegal. what if you paid them part time in the afternoon to sit at the clerical office and greet people when they came in?

what if you pay them to work as the assistant librarian? i pay them as early as reasonable and practical. >> this is a topic in our lily white house. we talk about working at mcdonalds, painting street addresses on curbs. i did magic acts at 12 years old. why isn't the message for all children, because we have all gotten off track in this regard. >> i don't understand the reason why newt made the statement the way he did. it's a very, very important and powerful message for all parents and all children. i think newt being newt, what he was trying to say, i think he made an inarticulate statement about what he was trying to say. it was an opportunity for him or he saw it as an opportunity to reach out to the poor and different demographic about h p

helping commuteties rise up. it looked more negative. >> i'm going to start michelle with you. was it a dog whistle? was it intended to go to his base? >> i think he made an inarticulate statement. people were saying he was trying to go after the most racist, horrible motives of the far right but i don't think so. i think he was trying to make a statement about pulling yourself up, having good role models. look at poverty and the most toughest, impovr shed neighborhoods. they are lacking education, working, families staying together. he could have found a much more positive way to make the statement. >> steve, a dog whistle? what did you hear? >> i heard a bit of two things, a dog whistle and ill conceived

attempt at blowing the dog whistle. there's an artful way of doing it if you are a skilled politician. the dog whistle aspect is simple. part of the core of the conservative message is telling suburbanites and people who conceive themselves as taxpayers under siege their taxes are so high because the government is taking their money and wasting it on poor, undeserving people. the message is designed to reach those people. i get it. i get your tax dollars are being wasted. i think it's ill conceived and gets to a problem with gingrich to fly off the handle and make comments that cause him a lot of trouble and don't have the intended effect. if you think back to sort of the last time newt gingrich was as big of a national player at this moment was when he was house

speaker. this defined his three and a half to four years as house speaker. he makes statements to blow his party off for days and weeks. within a week of the election, the entire conversation was about orphanages. >> i want to show that to you. >> sure. >> i want to point out he's got a history when it comes to controversial comments about the poor. in 1994, he said states need to stop giving aid to poor mothers and use the money to send the children to orphanages. hillary clinton called it unbelievable and ob surd. this was december of '94. he referenced the 1930s movie that romanticized orphanages. >> go to blockbuster and rent the movie. my answer is, the little

4-year-old thrown off the balcony in chicago would have been better off at boystown. the 11-year-old killed after he killed a 14-year-old might have had a chance to live in a supervised boarding school. the children you see in d.c. killed every weekend might be better off in a group home or fo foster home. >> when you put it in that context, does it make the recent remark more palettable or less? >> i feel numb about it. i understand, it's inflammatory thinking what could he be thinking about. think of all the candidates running for president. think of everyone running for office whether they are democrats or republicans. we constantly hear of the problems of the job creators and how important it is to have a middle class. there are no politicians willing to talk about what we do to help

the least among us. i'm not saying newt gingrich is doing that. he's the only candidate trying to touch on the topic of poverty and maybe, maybe all of the candidates will look at this as a way to reach out to different demographics and honestly talk about the problems facing the country rather than only focusing on the economic woes of people actually getting by. >> thank you. up next, rick perry is wasting no time making sure we can laugh as campaign blunders. the latest is coming up on the side show. you are watching "hardball" on msnbc.

back to "hardball." now for the side show. first up, if you can't beat them, join them, right? that's the game plan for gop candidate rick perry. we can't forget his epic brain freeze in an october debate. in the event you need a reminder, count on none other than rick perry. take a look at this new ad from the perry campaign to see what i'm talking about. >> commerce, education and what's the third one there? >> department of energy. you know, we have all lost our train of thought before. not many have done it on national tv.

if you want a slick debater, i'm not your guy. if you want a clean house with a flat tax and part time congress, i'm your man. i'm rick perry. what's that line again? i'm rick perry and i approve of this message. >> i like it. it's a good strategy. if you are not convinced he can poke fun at his own gaffe, there's the late-night comedians that can help him out. let's watch him on "the tonight show." >> thanks for coming you provided us with a lot of material. i appreciate you being here. >> it's what i do. >> what happened with the brain freeze. you had three things to remember. >> you know, one, two, and -- >> every now and then, i call my dogs by the wrong name. >> what happened in new hampshire. >> those of you who will be 21 by november 12 -- i was thinking drinking age maybe. >> that makes sense.

you have to have an excuse, right? that's mine. i'm sticking to it. >> if that doesn't work, he can give it a go michele bachman style. remember how she confronted it a couple weeks ago? >> i haven't had a gaffe or something i have done to cause me to fall in the polls. >> there it is. the poll numbers speak for themselves, neither stranlg gi is working. vacation veto. president obama went with bill clinton for energy products. don't think he didn't nudge congress to pass parts of the jobs bill. >> we are going keep pushing congress to make it happen. now is not the time to slam the breaks on the recovery. right now, it's time to step on the gas. we need to get this done. i expect it's going to get done before congress leaves. otherwise, congress may not be leaving. we can all smend christmas here

together. >> somehow i don't think that was an invitation to christmas at the white house. that's all for "hardball." chris matthews will be back on monday. up next, "your business" with j.j. ramberg. with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade. roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you. mary? what are you doing here? it's megan. i'm getting new insurance. marjorie, you've had a policy with us for three years. it's been five years. five years. well, progressive gives megan discounts that you guys didn't. paperless, safe driver, and i get great service. meredith, what's shakin', bacon? they'll figure it out. getting you the discounts you deserve. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

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