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let me go to nia-malika henderson. history of this fella is so full of problems, the three marriages, the messing around -- or having an affair during the time he's leading the impeachment process against the president of the united states for something like that. the fact that he was thrown out of the speakership for all kinds of questions about ethics. and here he is coming back as a critic of the way things work in washington. it's horrendously stupid to think that he's a reformer. >> yeah, and i think most people realize that. most people are familiar with newt gingrich. he's, in some ways, trying to run as if he's an anti-establishment figure, but he is the establishment. that's where he spent most of his life, most of his career. and i was actually out there covering him during those early months, when he was imploding, among the charges that he had, you know, spent so much on jewelry and when his staff imploded. and people weren't really taking to him. they know his history, they see him as an idea man, but they

jonathan martin is chief political correspondent for politico, and nia-malika henderson is a political reporter for "the washington post." let's show us now what we've heard latest. nbc has confirmed that one woman received a settlement from the national restaurant association after complaining about inappropriate sexual conduct by herman cain. nbc news is not disclosing the name of the woman, nor characterizing who she is. today herman cain acknowledged that he had been accused of sexual harassment, but said that charges were not true. let's listen. >> in all of my over 40 years of business experience, running businesses and corporations, i have never sexually harassed anyone. while at the restaurant association, i was accused of sexual harassment, falsely accused, i might add. i was falsely accused of sexual harassment. and when the charges were brought, as the leader of the organization, i recused myself, and allowed my general counsel and my human resource officer to deal with the situation. as far as a settlement, i am unaware of any sort of settlement. i hope it wasn't for much,

. >> the latest details with nia malika henderson and clarence page. >> if it turns out he's right, they better fire a bunch of people in the next 24 hours. >> now newt gingrich is making a move up? it's a hot mess for the republicans. ed ren del and rick lazio on the gop's 2012 meltdown. senate republicans get a third chance to do the right thing on jobs. how did that go? >> senator bernie sanders is live on the republican strikeout on jobs. have they forgotten 14 million people are unemployed? we'll make them remember. "politics nation" starts right now. >>> welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. we have breaking news tonight, the most detailed account yet of a specific allegations of sexual harassment again herman cain. we'll have all the details for mr. cain, the hot seat just keeps getting hotter. another bombshell today, a new report that one woman accusing cain of sexual harassment received a $45,000 settlement, according to politico. nbc has confirmed the payment, but not the amount. so accuser a got $45,000, but there's at least one other woman, accuser b, she got $35,00

and we'll just have to see. >> nia-malika henderson from "the washington post."s morning. >>> he's prom meant, outspoken, now representative barney frank is about to retire. the 16-term democrat from massachusetts says he will not seek rae election, blaming his retirement partially on redistricting. so what's next for the 71-year-old? >> there is no way i would be a lobbyist. i will miss this job and have twinges of regret when the new congress is signed up. i will tell you this and maybe you're going to laugh. one of the advantages to me of not running for office is i don't even have to pretend to try to be nice to people i don't like. some of you may not think i've been good at it. but i've been trying. >> the veteran congressman says he had always planned on retiring by 2014. >>> america's toughest sheriff will give his nod to texas governor rick perry. arizona sheriff joe arpaio is set to endorse the gop presidential candidate in new hampshire today. arpaio is known for his crackdown on illegal immigrants. this could be the boost perry's campaign needs. in th

joe klein, katty kay, nia-malika henderson and major garrett. first up, in this next election, we will reup president obama or will reject him and whether it's regrettable or not, this media mirror watching will dominate that decision. ever since kennedy and nixon, television has been the decider. down in the polls, the obama campaign is not going to stick to the high road. they're going negative to use tv to try to take down the republican. but in the huge balancing act, they hope to reignite the positive passion obama aroused in 2008. >> this moment -- this moment, this election is our chance to keep in the 21st century the american promise alive. >> to make tv work for them, the obama hopes for soft interviews like this. >> do you have a transition team for the dog? >> we don't. we're getting a lot of suggestions. >> you talked about your mother-in-law, is she moving in with you? >> well, i don't tell my mother-in-law what to do, but i'm not stupid. that's why i got elected president. >> you got a new dog and your mother-in-law moving in? >>

jonathan martin is with politico and nia-malika henderson is with the "washington post." we watched this thing late this afternoon. i've never seen so many charges coming to defend a guy who seems guilty but yet believes everybody else in the country, from let's get it straight, the media, the people who put her up to it, as he puts it, this is classic anita hill stuff. he says that the establishment is after him. he said the democrats are secretly planning to get newt gingrich as the nominee and not him. i want to go to nia-ma li ka on this. this does remind me of the right wing attack on anita hill during the clarence thomas hearings. >> yeah, except at this point he has himself stopped playing the ration card and stopped invoking clarence thomas, and as well he's lost a lot of support of people who are also playing that race card for him and comparing this to clarence thomas. i think you're exactly right though. in herman cain's mind, and it seems to be only his mind, there is this vast conspiracy against him, this plot to bring him down which, you know, in order to be

ben white and nia malika henderson join me with reaction. nia malika, was it surprising to hear this. and is he looking toward the generality? >> in some ways it wasn't surprising for him to make this bold statement. he has talked about the importance of the latino vote, the importance of a more moderate and realistic view, so it wasn't a surprise. it is a surprise given this tripped up rick perry so badly early on. he of course had the debate where he talked about republicans possibly be heartless when they were considering that his immigration policy was bad for the country. so it is a surprise. >> definitely a different tack there. >> i think we'll hear from some republicans this isn't the way they want the party to go on the far right, but moderate republicans were initially looking at rick perry as somebody who could close the gap. latino support is so important. president bush got 44% and the conventional wisdom is you need at least 44% to carry the white house. >> ben, you were saying you thought newt did quite well. give us your grade

phil musser, nia-malika henderson and nathan gonzalez. nia, we saw this in your blog yesterday.take a listen to what he said at harvard yesterday. oh, sorry. he said this. it is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods in trapping children first of all in child laws that are truly the most stupid. most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized jani r janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school. phil, would that work with the stimulus program? >> look, i'm paid to give advice, not give commentary on janitorial services for schoolchildren. newt's going to have a lot of creative ideas, he's got a lot of creative genius, and this is the latest of that. >> creative? yeah, i mean, creative is one way to talk about this idea. i mean, it would be funny if it weren't so serious. i have visions of little orphan annie thinking about this. but i think in some ways it's the return of newt gingrich the grinch. he was parodied on the cover of "time" many years ago as this mean-spirited guy. and that's what in some ways i think people see w

. >> nia malika henderson on the gop's ever changing pallete. new questions about the judge who let jerry sandusky walk. wait until you hear how she's connected to this disgraced ex-coach. and chilling video of sandusky talking about kids. >> how did it all start? basically because i'm a frustrated playground director, i guess. >> plus, it's 3:00 a.m., do you know where the gop candidates are? >> are you becky, becky, becky, becky standstand? >> these guys would be funding if they weren't so scary. politics nation starts right now. >> welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead. the announcement we've been waitinging for. the supreme court has agreed to decide the fate of the biggest achievement of the obama presidency, the health care law. it's likely to be the most important ruling since bush versus gore, with a decision expected during the presidential election. what hangs in the valance is coverage for tens of millions of americans. that's now in the hands of nine justices. and two of them have clear disturbing conflicts of

joining me now is nia malika henderson a "the washington post" national reporter who also writes forection 2012 blog, and dana milbank, national political reporter for "the washington post." thank you both for joining me. >> thank you, reverend. >> thank you. >> do you expect more to be added to his blame list? >> at this point it's hard to keep track of who is on there. of course, you mentioned this latest episode of mark block pointingsh he hasn't worked there since 2010. they have since backed off and said they had misinformation, bad information. really they didn't have any information at all. this seems to be something they made up out of thin air, but they're backing away from it now. i think tonight will be a big night for herman cain on stage with his rivals at the cnbc debate. it will be interesting to see how his rivals engage with the issues. do the candidates themselves bring it up? do they try to land a blow against herman cain with this issue that has consumed his campaign. now, dana, the reuters poll says after the allegation came out with the young lady that came forw

. >> joining me now is ni nia malika-henderson a "washington post" national reporter who also writes on 2012 blog and erin wright. nia malika is this a best way to get nominated, the republican party, is to be mean? i mean, newt gingrich is number one in the latest poll. >> well, you know i think we have to take a look at the polls a week from now or two weeks from now. the statements they made are certainly a good way to get cheers in iowa and get support there. a lot of religious right folks in that audience on saturday, but again, i think these republicans forget the lesson of 2000, when george bush ran as a compassionate conservative. they've forgotten the compassionate part of that and are really moving towards the far right in terms of their conservatism and it won't do them any good in the general election. as i said, it will be good for them for now in terms of trying to get votes in iowa and some of these early states like south carolina, but i think you know in some ways they're thinking that they can channel some of this anger that is certainly present among tea party folks

>> nia malika henderson from "the washington post." we appreciate it. next tuesday night when wolf blitzer is set to host the gop debates in washington. one of the main topics, national security. >>> 41 minutes past the hour. let's get a check of what's coming up at the top of the hour on "american morning." christine romans is here to share that with us. >> ahead in 20 minutes, unoccupied. we're watching the scene in lower manhattan right now as the nypd clears out occupy wall street camps there. we'll speak to an officer about why the police across the country decided enough is enough and why now is the turning point. we'll discuss the most shocking and most resented penn state. there's no fallout for the decades-old children's charity and for a football icon. >>> the 1,000 places you need to see before you die. the book that took people off the beaten path. it's back with an updated version. global trotters, get ready for a new list of musts. we'll talk to the author and tell you a few of the places you need to be. we're back in 20 minutes with "amer

joining me now is bob slum, democratic strategist and professor of new york university, and nia malika-henderson, a national political report for the "washington post" and a writer for their 2012 blog. bob, let me start with you. why are the democrats so focused on willard? >> well, number one, want to make sure -- define this race early. make sure it's a choice, not a referendum. he's a target-rich environment. there's a lot you can say about him. i think democrats will move on from the flip-flops if he's the nominee to talking about what he did to destroy jobs in the private sector and his pathetic record on jobs as governor of massachusetts. one of the really interesting things is, you know, all the flip-flops are there and the difference between him and gingrich, and gingrich has his flip-flops. >> right. >> is that republican primary voters believe that in his heart gingrich is a conservative, and they believe that romney in his heart is a con man, that he's just doing and saying these things to try to get the nomination. >> now nia malika, mr. romney was on fox saying that his words are be

. >> nia-malika henderson, "washington post," thank you so much.lvin. thanks for watching. we'll see you back here tomorrow morning and 2:00 this afternoon. up next, though, "andrewa mitchell reports." >>> i'm meteorologist bill karins with your business travel forecast. storm, thankfully, this one is heading off the coast, not heading up through new england. we're going to see some clouds along the mid-atlantic today, sunshine late this afternoon. temperatures in the eastern seaboard, no problems, mostly 50s and 60s. there is a snowstorm heading for wyoming, and eventually, that will get to denver tonight into tomorrow. be prepared, more snow. ay to den a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. two of the most important are ener