capacity through all of our troubles is still alive and well. >> it is, thanks to will ferrell. what did you learn? >> if i have to say, i should tell suri, because otherwise, you won't hear it. >> mika? >> i would like you to one more time demonstrate how you speak to your iphone. >> it's way too early. what time is it? >> thank you for watching "morning joe." ah, damage control. herman cain and his campaign try to straighten things out, but are they getting their story straight? we're entering a third day of this cain sexual harassment scandal. the super committee is making cuts, but it's not exactly what we expect. why is half the group working on a deal without the other half? super committee member congressman jim clyburn is here with an update and a preview of his own meeting today with the president and vice president. plus, we'll hear from the co-chairs of the president's fiscal commission, one that he didn't fully endorse. allan simpson and erskine bowles will be here on our set to give

the super committee their best advice later today. do they think anyone is listening? good morning from washington. it's tuesday, november 1st. this is "the daily rundown." by the way, we are 64 days until the iowa caucuses. let's get right to my first reads of the morning. nbc news has confirmed that two women accused herman cain of inappropriate sexual conduct while he led the national restaurant association in the 1990s, and at least one of those women received some sort of financial agreement. cain's response to those charges, first reported by "politico" has been consistent in only one respect over the last 24 hours, it is consistently evolving. in a series of television appearances at the national press club and through campaign surrogates, cain struggled to explain exactly what happened. first, he back-tracked on denials that the women received any financial settlement after the allegations. >> if the restaurant association did a settlement, i am not even -- i wasn't even aware of

it. i am unaware of any sort of settlement. i hope it wasn't for much because i didn't do anything. i was aware that an agreement was reached. the word settlement versus the word agreement, you know, i'm not sure what they called it. yes, there was some sort of settlement or termination, and i don't even know what the contents of that was. we ended up settling for what would have been a termination settlement, three months' salary or something like that. >> cain's campaign started the day by unequivocally denying he had sexually harassed anyone. that phrase, though, was the one that was confusing, but by the end of the day, those denials were becoming more ambiguous. >> herman cain has never sexually harassed anybody, period, end of story. >> in all of my over 40 years of business experience running businesses and corporations, i

have never sexually harassed anyone. >> was there any behavior on your part that you think might have been inappropriate? >> in my opinion, no. but as you would imagine, it's in the eye of the person who thinks that maybe i crossed the line. >> cain told the "associated press" in the afternoon that he could not remember any of the specific charges leveled against him, but by the end of the day, that, too, had changed. >> the only one that i could recall after a day of trying to remember specifics was once i referenced this lady's height, and i was standing near her and i did this, saying, "you're the same height as my wife" because my wife is 5 feet tall and comes up to my chin. this lady's 5 feet tall and she came up to my chin. so, obviously, she thought that was too close for comfort. >> so far, cain has had a lot of

conservative support among some in the activist community who always want to cast dispersions on the media first. the problem for cain will be if there is more to this story, if more comes out and he has to evolve his explanation again. if this is it, this is something he could probably overcome. if this is not it, that's a different story. all right, just 24 hours after rick perry kicked his ad campaign into high gear, going up with a second positive spot in iowa and adding an additional day to his already busy schedule in the state this week, perry super pacs, make it great again, one of the scores of the political action committees who can raise unlimited funds as long as they don't coordinate their expenditures with candidates, is going up with ads, coincidentally in iowa and south carolina. the initial buy combined is about $400,000. both ads punch the jobs message that perry has been up on the air with. here's the south carolina spot. >> a solid conservative, perry made his state the leader in

manufacturing exports, past major lawsuit reform, cut burdensome regulations. the result, 1 million new jobs. rick perry, conservative leadership that works. make us great again is responsible for the content of this ad. >> if the super pac make us great again has budgeted $55 million to spend through the end of the sort of initial primary season, the first half of the primary season. but again, no coordination, right? all right. finally, remember this moment back in june 2009? >> look, i've said before that as a former smoker, i constantly struggle with it. have i fallen off the wagon sometimes? yes. am i a daily smoker, a constant smoker? no. i would say that i am 95% cured, but there are times where -- there are times where i mess up. >> well, the president is now

100% cured, tobacco-free, in excellent health and fit for duty, according to his doctor. he received the clean bill of health after his second physical while as president, performed last week at the white house and released yesterday. the presidential physical is a reminder, by the way, that the republican presidential candidates will eventually have to release their own medical histories. two of the top three candidates right now, herman cain, rick perry, have had major medical issues in the past. herman cain is a cancer survivor, rick perry had major back surgery back in july, just before he got into the campaign. don't know a lot about mitt romney's medical history. the point is, these are things voters do want to know, these are things that the candidates are going to have to release at some point sooner rather than later, and the president setting the precedent there. finally, beginning at 11:00, the president sits down for a whopping ten interviews with local stations from tampa to houston, minneapolis and denver, as well as the hurst television group.

this is sort of radio row gone local. it's the type of media event that you wonder, where was it during health care? where was it during 2010 in some of the fights over what they were going to do on the economy? where was it during the debt ceiling fight? there's a lot of democrats going, hey, good idea, where was this a while ago? they're also going to have cabinet secretaries, all of these local anchors are going to be able to do live shots on the south lawn. all of us networks are on the north lawn. they're on the south lawn. all right, with three weeks left before the thanksgiving deadline, nbc news learned that half of the members of the budget super committee met separately last week to find a deal both parties can agree to. south carolina congressman jim clyburn is a member of the super committee, set to hold an open hearing this afternoon. congressman clyburn, welcome back to "the daily rundown." >> thank you so much for having me back. >> well, let me ask you this. you're not a part of this sort of subgroup, if you will.

so, is this a super duper subcommittee of the super committee that is cutting a deadeal what's going on here? >> well, i read some of those comments, but you know, there are various areas of expertise that committee members have, and i think that what we're seeing here is that people with certain expertise on the committee are meeting, and at our suggestion. so, it is not any kind of rump meetings taking place. but if there are sticking points that need to be discussed and there are people with various expertise that others may not have, that they are, in fact, meeting. and the composition differs whatever the issue may be. >> have you been in one of these subgroups? >> yes, i have. >> what have you broken up and done and who have you met with?

>> we have met among ourselves. i won't identify exactly who, but as you know, i do have a pretty extensive background in infrastructure stuff. i'm a big proponent of job-creation. i've made that a part of what i think. in that "washington post" op ed post i wrote before we started meeting, i thought job-creation ought to be a part of this. and so, we are looking for various ways to do deficit reduction, not just to do cuts, but to do deficit reduction. that means job creation, that means smart trusts and that also means raising revenue. the extent to which my background allows me to participate in submeetings, i do. >> i want to know what the role of the leadership on both sides has played. i want to play for you something speaker boehner said yesterday about the super committee while in louisville at the mitch mcconnell center. here's what he said. >> common ground doesn't mean

compromising on your principles. common ground means finding places where your agenda overlaps with that of the other party, locking arms and getting it done. >> first of all, do you agree with that sentiment, that basically, what he's saying is we're not compromising, you're just finding places where you agr agree? do you believe there is a distinction? >> well, there is a distinction without a difference. any time you are looking for overlaps that you might call common ground, that is giving up something that you might not otherwise give up, which that means compromise. and so -- >> well, do you believe the republicans. >> -- i agree with speaker boehner -- >> do you believe the republicans on the super committee are willing to compromise? >> well, i won't categorize what i feel about the committee members, because i might be stepping out of bounds here.

but let me just say this, i adopted as part of my way of life south carolina's motto, which is as i breathe, i hope. and i have tremendous hope that the members of this committee are trying to find a meaningful resolution to this problem, and i have great faith and confidence in each and every one of them. so, i'm pretty upbeat about what we are doing, and i would not want to put a label on any one of them. >> senator patty murray, who's the democratic co-chair, if you will, of the super committee, said that social security was being talked about, social security reform, possible cuts, possible changes in social security was still on the table. is that your understanding? >> well, you know, i've talked about social security going in, and i've been talk being it for two or three years. i think that we can look at all of this stuff, entitlements, be

it social security, medicare, medicaid, look at it all and see how we could extend the life. i would like to see if social security is made solvent for 75 years, out into the future. i would like to see about 45, at least 40 years on medicare, and there are ways to do this. remember, last year, we extended the life of medicare by 14 years with what we did. we didn't get credit for it. >> you may make some changes to social security? >> well, i don't know whether we will or not. social security really is not within our forte for this committee. the entitlement stuff in this committee is limited to medicare and medicaid. social security is not what we are mandated to do, though i wouldn't mind seeing us take a look at how we could make it, you know, extend its life and make it much more solvent, but

that's not anything that we are mandated to get involved in. >> all right. and very quickly on fund-raising, you have had 12 fund-raising events planned between now and august 23rd. no other member of the super committee has four on the books. are you concerned that you've had too many? have you dialed any of them back? do you have a way that you're vetting these so that there doesn't have any appearance of conflicts with the issues that you're dealing with in the super committee? >> well, you know, chuck, one of the big debates we have in government, especially when it comes to service, is the debate of volume versus value. now, i don't know why people are interested in 10 or 12 people meeting for breakfast, and i do that pretty often. and they seem to think that because i do that 10 or 12 times, it is more ominous than someone having one fund-raiser and making twice the amount of money at that one fund-raiser than i make at 12. and if you look at the checks or if you get on the telephone, my

stuff is done transparently. people look at it, i post it, i make it public, and i think that's much better than having secret telephone conversations. and you will see that members of the committee are out-raising me 2-1, and that is as it's always been. i'm like the turtle. you know, i collect turtles and i keep them all over my office. i'm slow and deliberate, but i get there. >> all right. congressman jim clyburn, democrat from south carolina, member of the leadership, member of the super committee. thank you very much for coming on, sir. >> thank you so much for having me. all right, up next, they're the men with a plan, simpson and bowles, bowles and simpson. we'll decide who gets top billing when we get on set here. their grand bargain to solve the debt crisis is pretty much gathering dust on a shelf. will the super committee take their advice this time? plus, money trouble. hundreds of millions of dollars disappeared from former new jersey governor jon corzine's company.

and then another government-backed solar energy company goes belly up. first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. as i told you, it's that big tv row of sorts, the president doing ten separate interviews today with various local television anchors. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] humana and walmart have teamed up to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan.

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$4 trillion over ten years and spent the last six months telling that with the package to the american people? >> 80% of the american people support an approach that includes revenues and includes cuts.

so, the notion that, somehow, the american people aren't sold is not the problem. the problem is, members of congress are dug in ideologically. >> less than four months later and here we go again, a congressional panel is now up against a hard deadline to deal with the deficit. today, members of the super committee will hear from the two men who know a thing or two about it. let's bring in the co-chairs of the president's fiscal commission, former u.s. senator allan simpson, a republican, and former chief of staff to president clinton, erskine bowles, the democrat. have you decided who gets top billing? depend on the day? >> we go on with our family and friends who are very kind to us. >> and that's it? >> yeah, that's it. >> all right, mr. bowles, let me start with you. the president's inability to take it -- you know, people don't know this, you actually have to go to whitehouse.gov to see your report, right? >> yeah. >> so it's on the white house website if he does not sell this. how frustrating has it been that

the president didn't own this and just sell it, even though he asked you guys to do this? >> it's been really frustrating, and i think it's been a shame, because i think the people want to see the country come together, to pull together, rather than pull apart. i think they want to see something real, something of substance. i think they want to see something that makes sense. we propose $4 trillion in deficit reduction. we didn't propose that because the number four bus went down the road. we proposed it because that's the minimum amount you have to reduce the deficit over ten years in order to stabilize the debt and get it on a downward path as a percent of gdp. he knows that and he knows it's what we have to do for the country and that's what we're going to talk to this super committee about today. >> and senator simpson, the republican plan that was released from the republican half of the super committee only said there's $1.5 trillion in cuts and it's almost like they have blinders on. if they could come up with $3 trillion in cuts only, they probably would have, but they politically can't, but they don't want to talk about how to get the other half, and we know what that probably is, which is

taxes. >> yeah, but you don't have to call it a tax hike. when we dug in there and found the shocking thing of $1,100, 0 $1,100,000,000, spending by any other name. and if you knock off as coburn tried to, get rid of 6 billion bucks of ethanol -- >> you saw what grover norquist did to him. >> grover norquist. >> did i say the magic word? >> if he's the most powerful man in america, elect him president. this is a good guy with a bad idea. he gathered up all these signatures when there were roses in the pathway. and to think that a person would sign a pledge to do anything before they've heard the debate, reviewed the thing, done their homework, done their research, that is not the way you legislate, and he's got them. if he's got them and he can't murder you, can't burn your house.

the only thing he can do is defeat you for re-election. and if that means more to you than your country, you shouldn't be in congress. >> i want to play you this aarp ad that's been running recently, that is -- i'm sure both of you guys have an opinion on. here's a clip. >> but i am a voter. so, washington, before you even think about cutting my medicare and social security benefits, here's a number you should remember, 50 million. we are 50 million seniors who earned our benefits, and you will be hearing from us today and on election day. >> that's a full-fledged threat. >> you bet it is. it's an arrogant, it's an arrogant bunch of people where the leadership at the top are not patriots, they're marketers. and i wonder what they got paid to do that and all the people around him. the aarp, if we can't get past the aarp, and they have done nothing, so they -- let's run the ad backwards and say you don't want to do anything with

the solvency of social security, then pal, you take the heat in 2036 when you waddle up to the window and get a check for 23% less. try that one. >> i disagree with alan completely. you know, as a democrat, what i'm supposed to be for is making sure we take care of the truly disadvantaged. if you look at our plan, that's exactly what we do. and what i can't understand is how people in my party can oppose making social security sustainably solvent, so it actually will be there and improving the payout -- >> but when it was a rumor, and my own reporting, he was putting, he was tip-toeing to the line on doing some social security reform, but it was getting close to a nixon/china moment, and his party was ready to throw him under the bus. >> that's my party, and i've talked to lots of people in my party, and what people want is the truth. social security will run out of money in 2036, and there will have to be, under current law, a

22% cut in what the benefits are. we can either face up to that and make it sustainably solvent, or we can let it run out. what we said is let's make it there for 75 years, for sure. let's make it sustainably solvent, and let's improve the payment, let's give a bump-up to the people who are truly disadvantaged. >> what's your conversations been like with mitch mcconnell and john boehner? >> i don't know, i'm not there, but i know they're both a couple of tough guys. and i know mitch quite well. he and i were in the senate together. >> right. >> and i think he's putting a lot of pressure on his people -- >> too much pressure, you think? >> i don't know. he's a master. you don't want to ever sell mitch short, but i think at some point in time, if you look like you're "wavering" in a ghastly way, you could end up being the ranking member of the journal committee. >> it does seem to me, though, that this fear of, for instance, both senate leaders, mcconnell

and reid, didn't like it when the gang of six got together, which was sort of, frankly, a senate version of what you guys were trying to do. if you had both members of the leadership -- now, i'd argue you're elected leadership to get into the majority, period. that's your job, and until that changes to getting rewarded for governing, i don't know how to fix this. but what do you do? >> you know, i think you're elected to leadership to lead. and that means doing what's right for the american people, not necessarily what's right for democrats or republicans. and what's right for this country is to solve this long-term fiscal problem. we face the most predictable economic crisis in history. the fiscal path we are on is not sustainable. they know it and they've got to stand up to it. we've simply made promises we can't deliver on. >> is there any, you know, if the voter isn't going to reward it, though, what do you do? >> i don't know, but i took on all those groups. i held a hearing on the aarp when i was an active u.s. senator. they were furious. i took on the professional veterans. they were furious.

i mean, the guys who have been in combat never showed up at the debates. some guy who never left camp bailey or doesn't know mortar from either end is up, they're bleeding all over the floor, while the real guys who fought the battle don't get in there. so, if you can't take those people on, you shouldn't be in congress. if you can't wade through emotion, fear, guilt and racism and get to the nut of things. and the reason erskine and i are heard in the land like the voice of the turtle is we don't do bs and we don't do mush. >> all right. i'm going to have to leave it there. senator alan simpson, erskine bowles, wearing your carolina blue. could be a little wyoming blue and gold, right? >> probably, although we're coming back. [ everyone talking at once ] >> all right, it was an october to remember on wall street, but a new gamble in greece could reverse all the recent gains. "market rundown" is next. plus, more of herman cain's

damage control, if you can call it there, and his evolving explanations. we're letting two of our campaign reporters come in from the cold, give us the inside scoop from the trail. first, today's trivia question. how many former governors are currently serving in the senate? the answer @chucktodd or @dailyrundown. more coming up. ♪

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opening bell just rang on wall street, so let's get right to it. cnbc's andrew ross sorkin with the market rundown. so, a referendum on the eu bailout? uh-oh. >> that's what we're hearing out of greece. they want a referendum on that plan, which puts it into limbo all over again, and we're seeing red arrows across the board as we open up this morning. we saw red arrows in europe, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% down across the board as well. so, new questions about the plan

and whether we're going to need another plan. of course, the other news that people are focused on on wall street today, jon corzine and mf global and the aftermath of that company's bankruptcy, which took place yesterday. now there are new questions about whether that firm ended up co-mingling customer funds with the company's funds in the final days before its bankruptcy, and that's raising a lot of questions among regulators. we're going to see how that story plays out, but a lot of people focused on that and customers who can't get access to their money right now. >> and market is spooking, looks like, right? already down over 200 points? >> yeah, we're already there. we'll see how the rest of the day goes, but it's not starting on a happy note. >> could be a rough start after that amazing october. andrew ross sorkin, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> "the daily rundown" will be back in 30 seconds.

and welcome back. a few other stories making headlines. federal regulators are investigating a now bankrupt securities firm, you just heard about it, run by former new jersey governor jon corzine, where up to $700 million went missing. mf global filed for chapter 11 after losing big on european debt. officials want to know if customer cash was used to prop up the collapsing company. "the new york times" says mr. corzine, a democrat, has not been accused of any wrong-doing. a second energy company backed by the federal government has gone under. beacon power corporation received a $43 million loan guarantee in august of last year. the company is now $47 million in debt.

and mark your calendar, the first of three presidential debates for the general election will take place in early october. president obama and the republican nominee will square off in colorado, new york and florida. the vice presidential debate will be held at center college in kentucky, a return for a lot of those universities. the big one, of course, is kentucky, because when it was there in 2000 it was a dry county. i am assured now it is no longer dry. all right, well, when harold cain sings -- ♪ my song of praise >> -- they are there. when rick perry speaks off the cuff -- >> you know, pretty easy math. subtract it, send it in. it's awesome. >> awesome. they're there! when mitt romney puts on the barbecue apron at the iowa state fair -- they are there. there are intrepid nbc news

campaign who have found their way from the campaign trail to the studio. kerry dan is keeping an eye on rick perry and andy rafferty is sticking to the cain campaign. so, you're both in d.c. sorry, i'm starting with this guy. herman cain, all right, is obviously in damage control mode. you tracked it all day yesterday. give us a sense of what did you see when he was going in and out of these interviews? he would stop by, he would chat with you back and forth. what was his demeanor? what can you tell us? >> well, the demeanor was surprisingly upbeat for someone who's going through, had this big story break, and we saw there was this huge elephant in the room. herman cain comes and all we get is this talk about the 9-9-9 plan. then throughout the day, he is candid with reporters who are staking him out, waiting outside those interviews he did on fox news, on pbs. he's always stopping, chatting, and the demeanor is generally upbeat and casual. i mean, we talked to him. i talked to him at the end of the day yesterday and asked him, you know, what is the

discrepancy here? you said there wasn't a settlement, now there's a settlement, and he explained that, trying to say it's a legal term, that the term settlement he didn't want to say it because this is 12 years ago, something that he did not completely understand. but as he was getting back into the car, he turns around to us and says, i hope you guys are having a great dinner because i'm about to go have a great dehner in d.c. >> wow, so he stayed fired up. mark block was on here yesterday and essentially said they doubled. what have you seen? >> in the field, it's still a small group. he has a body man. he has more security now, that's obvious, but they need the ramp-up, because there has been communication problems, whether it's with reporters or just within their own staff. and what we saw yesterday, there was clearly a communications issue between how they planned to head off this story and how they ended. so, they are overwhelmed and they are doing their best to keep up, but you've seen, it's very obvious to us on the road who are following him, just getting a schedule is getting

difficult. >> compared to the herman cain campaign, the rick perry campaign seems like a veteran group of folks, even though they were in ramp-up stage when you first started on this back in august. what have you seen that has evolved that shows the professionalization of this campaign? >> you've seen the way that they communicate with reporters evolve over time. similarly, we had similar issues with getting scheduling information, knowing where the candidate was going to be what kind of media interviews he was going to be doing. we're getting more information about those kinds of things. we're getting more advanced notice about where he's going to be, and i think more of a sense of what their strategy is really starting to look like in terms of in individual states, in iowa, for example. originally, we were told rick perry was going to have two events in iowa this week. they've ramped that up to many more, an additional day in iowa. so you're seeing an increased focus on primary states, as we've seen last week in iowa, ad buy. so they're starting to hone down without doing these events in

non-primary states. they're starting to drill down there. >> one of the more unique stories of the weekend before herman cain was this speech by rick perry in new hampshire. you were there in person, and i know it was sort of a different way to see it in person versus what we've seen on the internets. but here's a clip of it. >> this is such a cool state. i mean, come on, live free or die? i mean, you know, you've got to love that, right? gold is good. if you've got any in the backyard, because you know, if they print any more money over there in washington, the gold's going to be good. that! 20% flat tax. put it on there, take your deductions off, send it? >> i was there with you and he said yesterday it was an evening where you could see perry was getting more comfortable, last speaker of the night. had you seen that perry on the trail yet? >> some of the words he used -- it was funny to have a lot of

national press in manchester because i did get to see this side of perry. perry calls things cool and awesome all the time. >> all the time. >> that was not unusual. >> that's part of his vehiclean. >> but the level of energy was very striking to everybody in the room, and the crowd loved it. it's a little bit more difficult to tell on the video. the crowd was really into it. and when his campaign staff sort of questioned about where did this guy come from? he was so animated. a lot of them said he's feeding off the crowd. when he's comfortable and loose and with an enthusiastic crowd, laughing at his jokes. he was really just having fun. >> what is it you've seen he's not having fun doing? have you seen the pressure of the debates, pressure of the poll numbers? is the idea of not losing getting to him? >> i think media interviews and debates, he's been the first to admit debates are not his strong suit. in the last debate in las vegas when he was much more aggressive, he's more of the candidate you see in retail politics, much more sort of off the cuff, saying things like i'm bumping plans with you, brother. that's more of the rick perry

you see. >> real quickly with herman cain, do you see him -- we've seen him give a lot of speeches. how well does he work a crowd? >> he works a crowd well. he's a personable guy -- >> jumps in there. >> he handshakes. but his schedule has been aggressive lately, so there's not time for the retail politicking -- >> move them fast. >> move them fast, so he's in, he's out. but when he is around a crowd, he's a very engaging pearn. >> two very different campaigns. carrie dann, andrew rafferty, part of our campaign team. follow the whole crew. carrie, nbc news on twitter, andrew, nbc news. coming up, karl rove versus rush limbaugh? two conservatives in two different opinions. our super tuesday political panel joins me next. first, the white house soup of the day. we're going to cannes in two days, so very fitting that we have french onion today. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. soup and cheese. can't go wrong. [ male announcer ] at e-trade, investing means taking action

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and choose the right plan for you. learn more at 1-800-medicare or medicare.gov. a little breaking news. as we told you, the markets down big. now it's 246 points in the first 13 minutes of trading. the news about greece, among other things, missing money at a firm from former democratic new jersey governor jon corzine. just a lot of bad news on this first day of november. they weren't as spooked yesterday. they're getting spooked today. all right, conservative commentators have largely lined up behind herman cain, at least for now. only a handful going rogue, so to speak. take a listen. >> look at how quickly what is known as the mainstream media goes for the ugliest racial stereotypes they can to attack a black conservative.

>> i found it hard to believe the campaign didn't know that this was coming and was as badly prepared as they were. you don't start off by saying there's nothing to this whatsoever and then go into, well, we don't know anything about it, and then say, yes, i know it, but i didn't do it. >> jennifer rubin writes the right turn blog for "the washington post." democratic strategist jemal simmons is a principal at the raven group and jeanne cummings is a deputy government editor for bloomberg news. welcome all. jennifer rubin, i want to start with you. i know you've been personally pretty critical of cain's handling of this, but overall, th conservative commentariat has been sort of supportive of cain. >> i don't think it's been entirely supportive, like kevin williams took a position similar to mine. i think that's going to largely change over time. >> what would make it change? >> i think what's going to change is how he handles this, and if he repeats a day today like he did yesterday, i think you're going to see much more

criticism on the process side of it, which he is, i think, entirely deserving of receiving, and that is just as karl said, the contrary statements, evolving story, the unpreparedness. remember, this is a guy who's selling himself as a business executive and that was his appeal as an outsider, as a can-do guy, a problem-solver. this is a pretty big problem and he hasn't solved it. >> jemal simmons, as an operative, you've been on your share of bad days like this. you watch this evolving story. is this a case -- i'm not asking you to read the mind of a mark block, but when i had him on yesterday, it seemed as if he had the information that was given to him by the candidate, and ultimately, you were handcuffed by that when you're an operative, are you not? >> oh, there's nothing worse than when you know there is more information than the information you have at hand and you've got to figure out a way to get through it. the problem i see is sort of what jennifer was talking about, is if they've known this for this long and didn't do anything proactively to deal with it, even once you start getting phone calls from the press, you

then have the ability to go out ahead of the press and say, listen, this is coming, and then try to put the best light on it that you can and try to get through it. but to sit there and just wait for the ambush and then not even be prepared with the guns loaded when it comes is just malpractice. >> but it's an interesting way hermane is dealing with this, jeannie cummings, which is this, okay, i'll go on any tv interview that asks. he's got three or four more today. he's going to be the beast himself. >> well, he will. and he is very undisciplined in his messaging, as we've pointed out, changing stories all day yesterday. i thought, if you look at the process, what was most disturbing was that they had ten days notice that the story was coming and then still were not prepared. that's just incompetence. but i think this could open a whole new window as he does more interviews, on cain, in that his abortion position is troubling as well. that ran under the radar screen yesterday. >> right. >> but he flipped on his abortion position.

his tax plan he's amended once, may be amending again. there is now a lot more ammunition for when all of these debates pick up again. >> right. >> that his opponents are going to have a lot more questions. >> one thing i want to bring up. you know, one missing piece to this has been his wife. in a story like this, you usually see something with a spouse when trouble like this. here's what he said when he was asked about where his wife was on the campaign trail. >> you will meet my wife publicly in an exclusive interview that we are currently planning and anticipating. she will be introduced in terms of some limited exposure, but it's not her style for her to be with me on every campaign stop because, number one, it's grueling, and i want her to continue to be the nucleus for that calm and tranquility that you want from your family. >> jennifer rubin, that is, at this point, it seems like he desperately needs her on the trail if this is this 43-year marriage that he's talking about his, you know, you've got people

now have wandering minds about him. >> actually, i think the bigger problem is how he has handled it, rather than the initial allegations, but it sure would help to have his wife there. the last candidate who left his wife out of the limelight was howard dean -- >> and it was odd, and i remember -- >> it was odd. >> then when she got introduced, she wasn't comfortable and it looked forced. then you started questioning whether -- you know, because you have to be in this together. >> yeah, and i think that is a truism. you can only be so much of a maverick in the way you run a presidential campaign. you have to put forth positions, you have to have a willing spouse, you have to have some discipline. it's great to be all outside the beltway, but eventually it comes back to bite you if you don't have certain requeisites -- >> i can't pass by rush limbaugh and conservatives using race to defend herman cain, who demeaned the notion of having race even play a part in politics or having to do with his campaign. >> it is interesting, these commentariates on the left and right, can we just agree not to

play the race card at all? and when you see it played, it is frustrating. stay with me. we'll talk rick perry and the super committee after the break. we asked how many former governors are currently serving in the senate? the answer is ten. the reason i asked them today is because they're the interesting lot when it comes to finding a compromise on the big deficit deal. we'll be right back. you're watching "the daily rundown." my doctor told me calcium is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. for the efficient absorption my body needs. [ dog ] i am my coat? solid gold. my insides? pure platinum. [ female announcer ] a healthy outside starts inside. new iams simple & natural has chicken

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let's bring back the panel. you know, guys, the supercommittee, they are setting up. everybody's expectations. you heard simpson/bowles, dean and martin, martin and lewis here. they were fantastic. here's what john boehner said about congress yesterday in a speech at the mitch mcconnell center. it was kind of interesting. i want to get you guys to react. >> the danger is that these areas of overlap will end up in some big political pawn game in washington, d.c.

held hostage to a broader debate while the two parties clash over their various philosophies. i didn't take this job to preside over some partisan screaming match. faith in government has never been high. it doesn't have to be this low, though. >> that sounds like a speaker who suddenly is reading the poll numbers. >> well, he could well be and he sounds reasonable. but we've heard this sort of thing from boehner before. and there was the big deal. it was within his grasp in the summer. and he couldn't close it. and nothing has changed. nothing has changed between that july -- those meetings with the president and today. if anything, things have gotten harder. and so, you know, it's nice to say all of this, but there was a moment, the moment has passed. and if you look beyond the conciliatory talk on capitol hill, what you really see is both political parties preparing for the failure of the

supercommittee. >> that's what strikes me. everybody is trying to sound reasonable on one hand, but they are preparing for this battle underneath. >> well, first of all, i'm going to take exception to something jeanne said. there was a deal between mcconnell, reid, boehner. so the white house moved the goal post. >> that was not the big deal. that was not the grand bargain. that was a small deal. >> a middle sized bargain. the semigrand bargain. as far as the prospects for the supercommittee, i'm rather glum to be honest. i don't think they'll get certainly 1.2. they might get just based on cuts, the leftovers from the biden talks, a little medicare savings from the coburn/lieberman plan and might get $500 million, $600 million. that still leaves a question for the remaining. >> i don't know, chuck. if you look at -- you had simpson and bowles on. the dominici plan.

some tax hikes, spending cuts and medicare reforms. and the plan of the democrats. they got five democrats to go along with, included -- no, the democratic plan from last week that leaked. they were -- seems like they were willing to go along with things nobody thought some of those folks would go along with, including entitlement cuts. but the republicans are stuck as the only ones who will not do the same deal that every group of bipartisan member ooze. >> i've got stop it there. shameless plugs. go. >> bloomberg.com has a story today talking about someone nels the presidential race. that would be president obama. >> oh, him. >> from his j.j. dinner in des moines that picked up his primary campaign to today from the message of change to a message of patience. >> go, shameless plug. go. >> number four, stanford. how do you like them? >> good for you. they need oklahoma to beat oklahoma state to get into the title game. >> younger brother, principal of cramer elementary school in southeast washington. first person in washington to get a grant from race from the top to do their program for turn around schools and find the best

practices to implement in d.c. schools. >> i have to do a shameless plug to marla who is making political cookies, and she was really shameless about it. the political cookie company.com. there you go, marla. you send me free cookies with my picture on it and i'm going to plug you shamelessly. tomorrow on the show, mississippi governor hailey barbour joins us. coming up next, "chris jansing and company." and at 1:00, andrea mitchell reports. november 1. bye-bye. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet?

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good morning. i'm chris jansing. herman cain's campaign is in full damage control mode right now. the more interviews he sdherks more inconsistent his story about two sexual harassment allegations against him in the '90s. now first he was insisting he didn't know. as nbc news confirmed, that one woman got a financial settlement. >> as far as a settlement, i am