david corn, cynthia, tucker and john heilemann. let's look at this.resident obama's most recent weekly approval rating average, this is gallup poll, averaged for the week of november 7th through 123th is 43%. remember that number. and that number has been on the rise. let's look now to how obama compares to past presidents in the november of their third years in office. george w. bush's approval rating was 52% at this time and just starting to rise. that's george w.'s, he, of course won re-election. bill clinton's was 53% and rising too. he won re-election. george bush 41's was 55% but dropping. he lost his re-election bid. ronald reagan's was 53% and raising. he won re-election. jimmy carter's approval rating in november of 1979 was 40% and rising although he got a spike in popularity when americans were taken hostage in iran. by november of 1980, his approval rating was back in the 30s and he, of course, lost re-election. richard nixon's approval rating was 49% and rising, he won re-election. so, cynthia, read the tea leaves. what do you see there?

cynthia tucker, i want to ask you about this. this isn't a case of interpretation by the woman, staff person, and a way that she interpreted something, a behavior or words by a male staff or colleague. this is an action which would not just be inappropriate, but bad behavior in any setting, possibly criminal behavior. >> absolutely. >> strong, aggressive, sexual advance on a woman of the kind we talked about or she talked about in her testimony yesterday when they gave the press conference, talking about grabbing her head and pushing it towards his crotch, him reaching towards her genitals. the whole thing so graphic and so clear. his defense wasn't a limited modified hangout, to use watergate language. it wasn't we thought we were on a date, it was a social event. no defense at all, except absolute, clear cut it didn't happen. >> it didn't happen. >> she didn't happen in my life, no such person ever entered my space on earth. what do you make of that defense? it's a particular, strategic decision if it's not true. if it's true,

and cynthia tucker, a visiting professor at the university of georgia. david, where does this story go now in terms of getting to the truth? >> two tracks. political, but also the facts of the case. i've talked to some lawyers, since last time we talked, and they said the notion, it's a he said/she said, isn't really accurate. bialek's, one of the things she alleged, is there was a room, a suite that herman cain provided for her on the night they went out, so it's not just a matter what he said and now she's totally denying knowing her. presumably there is a record there to go check. is there a credit card receipt, some sort of record? this is indicative of the political problem. more details. more facts likely to come out. other accuser who's are now prepared to go public. how much more can herman cain take? he was definitive today, chris. denied everything, said he's never acted inappropriately, so he was certainly declarative. >> in denying everything, he now has to defend everything, including an upgrade in the hotel. he said he never sexually harass

what you may or may not realize is that cynthia tucker has been the voice of reason in atlanta, in a strong way for a long time and she has now left us. [laughter] and as one of the people who was devastated about this, my question is, what do we do in instances like that? we have very few strong voices in the press in atlanta. we have you, and jay and mike, but that is pretty much it. how do we move forward if the press is not going to be bold? >> that is an excellent question i asked be like a question a little while back about fundamentalists and the zionist and he said that is such a complicated question. there is no right and -- no short answer. you have done me the same in turn. let me just say i had a great career at the atlanta journal constitution and i still miss it. and i am one of those journalists who does believe that the press has a special role to play. let me say, however, that i did say to offered earlier that during those moments in the play where it was clear that newspapers were whipping up a frenzy, i took it personally. and it was absolutely true. they did that

and that's what occupy wall street is protesting for. >> thank you cynthia tucker and ron christie. >for iowa. if he wins it could put him ahead, it could. if he loses badly, he could be damaged goods. this is "hardball" only on msnbc. among marie claire's top 25 beauty products that will change your life... for the first time ever... a toothpaste. crest 3d white. if beauty editors notice, who else will? crest 3d white toothpaste. life opens up when you do. try smart balance buttery spread. it's heart-healthier than butter. with omega-3s. 64% less saturated fat. and clinically proven to help support healthy cholesterol. ♪ put a little love in your heart ♪ to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us. [ ding ] oh, that's helpful! well, our company does that, too. actually, we invented that. it's like a sauna in here. helping you save, even if it's not with us -- now, that's progressive! call or click today. no mas pantalones! >>> former fbi director louie freed will investigate the penn state investigation. initially it was announced two trustees would lead the investigation. the

also joining me right now is cynthia tucker in a minute. let me go to you, senator.ohio in terms of what the republicans were up to and what you've been able to do to stop them. >> first off, congratulations on your jfk book. that's exciting. heard you on the radio talking yesterday. >> thank you. >> well, last fall the elections, as you know, were about lost jobs as they should have been because people in ohio and every other place in the country are very anxious about the economic situation, but since the election it's all been in state after state and ohio especially, they have gone after bargaining rights, collective bargaining rights. that will be on the ballot next week in ohio because you can do what's called a referendum to roll back a law passed by the legislature if the voters -- if you get enough signatures and if the voters vote that way. we're doing the same on voting rights, and they went after worker rights. they went after bargaining rights, voting rights and women's rights in ohio. and so the second petition, the issue on the ballot a year from now,

politico columnist cynthia tucker who is a visiting prof s professor at the university of georgia. and john heilemann an msnbc political analyst. first of all, the iowa caucuses january 3rd. mitt romney's making a push in the hawkeye state. romney is now playing to win the iowa caucuses, television commercials are on the way, volunteers are arriving, and a stealth operation is ready to burst into view in the weeks leading up to the caucuses. let's go to david on that. is this going to happen out there? is he entering? >> well, yeah, he's entering, taking out ads. he's opening the campaign office. they didn't have a grand opening, he's trying to have it both ways. he wants to compete, he wants to do well. >> why is he doing this? why doesn't he take a breather? he's not a cultural conservative, he's questionable on abortion rights and other issues. why didn't he wait on new hampshire? >> my guess is he sees an opening for an early strike. there's no non-romney candidate that's really come together that has materialized, that has money, organization, can survive scrutiny. it's all as

and that's what occupy wall street is protesting for. >> thank you cynthia tucker and ron christie. > all in for iowa. if he wins it could put him ahead, it could. if he loses badly, he could be damaged goods. this is "hardball" only on msnbc. ♪ ♪ ♪ when the things that you need ♪ ♪ come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ >>> former fbi director louie freed will investigate the penn state investigation. initially it was announced two trustees would lead the investigation. they turned to free who has no connection to the university. we'll be right back. lifeblood of our communities. on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. allen's boots... at juno

[applause] cynthia tucker is a veteran newspaper journalist. in 2006, she was named journalist of the year for the national association of black journalists. she was editorial page editor of the the atlanta journal- constitution newspaper for 17 years where she led the development of opinion policy. she maintains a column published in newspapers around the country. alfred uhry is distinguished as the only american playwright to win a pulitzer prize, ae. the film version won an academy award for best adapted screenplay in 1990. his book for the musical won day tony award in 1999. it currently has its washington, d.c. premiere

what you may or may not realize is that cynthia tucker has been the voice of reason in atlanta, in a strong way for a long time and she has now left us. [laughter] and as one of the people who was devastated about this, my question is, what do we do in instances like that? we have very few strong voices in the press in atlanta. we have you, and jay and mike, but that is pretty much it. how do we move forward if the press is not going to be bold? >> that is an excellent question i asked be like a question a little while back about fundamentalists and the zionist and he said that is such a complicated -- complicated question. there is no right and -- no short answer. you have done me the same in turn. let me just say i had a great career at the atlanta journal constitution and i still miss it. and i am one of those journalists who does believe that the press has a special role to play. let me say, however, that i did say to offered earlier that during those moments in the play where it was clear that newspapers were whipping up a frenzy, i took it personally. and it was absolutely true

thank you, david gregory, cynthia tucker, and eugene robinson. >>> we'll be back with a new issue of "hardball" in an hour. politicsnation starts right now. >>> tonight, the herman cain offensive. >> the charges and accusation are absolutely reject. they simply didn't happen. but, herman, can you really save your reputation? >> i don't even know who this woman is. >> another accuser's attorney joins us. super tuesday. voters deciding issues from abortion to union busting. gerald mcentee, the head of asme on what ohio's worker's fight means for your fight. >> if congress continues to stand only for dysfunction and delay, then i'm going to move ahead without them. >> and one year to go. and new poll numbers blast the myth that president obama is losing his base. strategist ed rendell and ted devine on the president's re-election chances. >> public servants shouldn't get a better deal than taxpayers. >> gop warfare, republicans on the wrong side. scale as 76% of the americans say the economy is weighted against them. howard dean on the rise of the progressives, and getting to know them.

. ♪ lois romano, cynthia tucker and keith. all right. it's nine days.'s nine days before this deadline, november 23rd deadline of the super committee pr we're getting conflicting reports about how much progress is being made. here's what texas congressman, a republican, had to say about taxes, interestingly enough. and we'll come back, keith, i want to come back with you. let's listen to this. >> we believe that, frankly, increasing tax revenues could hurt the economy but within the context of a bipartisan negotiation with democrats clearly they are a reality. whatever damage would be done by $250 billion of new taxes we think would be offset by a system that would help create jobs. >> so the line for republicans all along has been no tax increases. this does not sound like no tax increases. is there a possible path toward tax increases, and is that the right thing for the republican party to do? >> i'm sure there's a wait for it but i don't think it's going to play well with, a, the conservative base of the republican xaert which is energyienerg energi

. >> political columnist cynthia tucker. first of course the iowa caucus is january 3rd. mitt romney is making a push in the hawk eye state according to the "new york times" today, romney is now playing to win the iowaes,elevision mmercials are on the way, staff is arriving. that's according to the "new york times." is this going to happen out there? is he entering? >> he's entering, taking out ads. he's trying to have it both ways -- >> why doesn't he take a breather? he's not a cultural conservative. he's questionable on abortion rights and marriage and the other issues. why doesn't he wait until new hampshire? >> my guess is he sees an opening to get an early strike. there's no nonromney candidate that's really come together, that has materialized, has money, organization and can survive scrutiny. it's all a pack of circus clowns. >> i've noticed that. cynthia, does he have to win out there to win? is it really win or lose for him? >> in iowa i don't think anybody really expects mitt romney to win in iowa. he's not conservative enough for the david who -- >> why does h

and cynthia tucker is a political columnist. david gregory, let me ask you about this thing.at is driving herman cain to do something he never wanted to do. put himself in front of the lions and possibly spend a half-hour to an hour defending himself. >> as long as there were more anonymous allegations, and they weren't allegations, there was a settlement that went back to his days with the national restaurant association, when that woman decided not to come forward, cain thought it was sufficient to sort of stand fast and say, i didn't do anything wrong. it was clear from the statement that he had disputed the allegations at the time, but there was still a settlement, but he wasn't a party to it. now he's facing more specific charges. there's a split within his camp, in his campaign, among those who want to blame the media and deflect and distract. and others who say, look, you can't go on unless you answer these. you can't say, we're going to close the door of these discussions and just get back to 9-9-9. you can't have that. conservatives are saying they've got to answer f

david corn is washington bureau chief for "mother jones" and msnbc political analyst, and cynthia tucker is a pulitzer prize winning columnist and visiting professor at university of georgia. i want you poet to take a crack at what's going on right now, just the setting right now. for the first time it looks like we have two fairly equally matched candidates, mitt romney, the sort of establishment guy that's sort of class act and the somewhat mad dog newt gingrich at each other's throats right now. let's watch in a minute, but i want your reactions right now. do you sense that mitt romney is getting rattled? do you sense that newt is getting to be arrogant as he ll again? neither picture being that attractive. you first, david. >> well, the way i look at this, chris, is that life doesn't get much beyond high school and you have the big man on campus, the student body president who looks good, mitt romney, may not be liked by everyone as much as he thinks he's liked by them and then you have the head of the av club, newt gingrich, the snarky, nerdy guy who knows how to get under the other

cynth cynthia tucker is joining us. ron christie is a republican strategist at the iop.ng, a, and what did you think of newt gingrich adding insult to injury by saying, they're the bad people. the good people are the guys opposed to them? >> good evening, chris. i was pretty appalled looking at that video of the students at uc davis. here these students aren't protesting, here the students aren't battling with the police. here the students just appear to be sitting there. and i wouldn't call that pepper spray. i'd say that was a pepper hose. i mean, it just looks like excessive force for what the students were doing or frankly, not doing. as it relates to what the former speaker had to say, i understand what he's saying. i don't know that occupy wall street is necessarily 100% tied in the with the left, but i agree with the sentiment that people need to get a permit to occupy lawfully. and my wife include who had works in the financial district in new york city, of blocking people's ability to get to and from work is a little bit excessive for me. >> do you think newt gi

[applause] cynthia tucker is a veteran newspaper journalist. in 2006, she was named journalist of the year for the national association of black journalists. she was editorial page editor of the the atlanta journal- constitution newspaper for 17 years where she led the development of opinion policy. she maintains a column published in newspapers around the country. alfred uhry is distinguished as the only american playwright to win a pulitzer prize. --an academy award, and a tony award. the film version won an academy award for best adapted screenplay in 1990. his book for the musical won day tony award in 1999. it currently has its washington, d.c. premiere at the ford theater. julian bond was a founder of the student nonviolent coordinating committee. he is a 20 year veteran of the georgia general assembly. he was the founder of the southern law center. he was chairman of the naacp board of directors. he is now chairman emeritus. he is a professor in the department of history at the university of virginia. he is an advisor to the lincoln lega