kathleen parker, gloria borger and howard fineman. thank you, as usual. before we go, a personal note about my new book, "jack kennedy, elusive hero," my personal look into the career and life of a beloved leader. that's the show. thanks for watching.

kathleen parker, gloria borger and howard fineman. thank you, as usual.efore we go, a personal note about my new book, "jack kennedy, elusive hero," my personal look into the career and life of a beloved leader. that's the show. thanks for watching. ♪ [ female announcer ] we never forget the nearly 12 million cancer survivors in america today... and the countless lives lost. we owe it to them to protect funding for cancer research, prevention and access to care. congress, make cancer a priority and give millions of americans what they need most.

kathleen parker, gloria borger and howard fineman. thank you, as usual.ore we go, a personal note about my new book, "jack kennedy, elusive hero," my personal look into the career and life of a beloved leader. that's the show. thanks for watching. [people chatting] everyone, it's $37 a piece. paying with your smart phone instead of cash. that's a step forward. with chase person-to-person quickpay, you can send money directly to your friend's checking account.

. >> joining me now are howard fineman, editorial director for the aol "huffington post" media groupand msnbc analyst. and former chief of staff to congresswoman michele bachmann. ron carey, first of all, did you see anything in this debate tonight that would change the lineup as we now see it in the cnn poll? >> i don't believe so. really there are two races going on now. there's mitt romney who has a stable 20% to 25% support. mitt romney did a fantastic job tonight. every debate he does incredibly well, looks presidential and says the right things for the republican conservative electorate. three out of four republicans don't trust mitt romney and that's probably not going to change. the other battle, the non-romney candidate that's going to emerge and get down to a two-pym=9ñ race between romney and somebody else. newt gingrich did a fine job tonight. it was interesting to see michele bachmann is the one person who did take a swipe at him on the immigration issue and challenged him going down the same path that torpedoed rick perry's campaign a few months ago. newt took a body bl

howard fineman for the huffington post. and dana mill banks with the great "washington post." rd this one is so fascinating you and i, if we could get a piece of this self-confidence and get rid of our composite guilt. this guy has no guilt about anything he possibly has done. he is st. francis or whatever. i don't know who he is. he's define almost in his perfection. and no matter what anybody throws at him, he just throws walk a very logical statement, no, you're wrong, i'm right. >> i wish i could get away with saying i've never done anything inappropriate to anyone ever. but this is -- back in the nixon years, they used to talk during watergate about a modified limited hangout. you know, that they would let certain facts out, and they would then go from there. this is herman cain doing the full monty. i mean, he's saying -- yeah. he's saying no way, no how, i don't remember this woman, i don't know this woman, i never did anything wrong, there was never a settlement, never any real accusations. keep in mind, this is a guy who's somehow or another caused $80,000 worth of pay

he has to run on the economy. >> howard fineman of aol, huffington post and alex wagner of msnbc, thankou for joining me tonight. howard, someday, i want you to explain to alec and me just what it feels like to be the smartest guy in the room. >> i couldn't do it, i'm sure because i'm not. >> it is a burden you should never have to suffer a. >> i'm not. >> the improving poll numbers for newt gingrich's campaign also mean more questions about how he made the kind of money that allowed him to run up big bills at tiffanys. "meet the press" moderator david gregory is here. >>> and today, the occupy wall street movement is two months old and things turned chaotic for the protesters in new york city. michelle goldberg was there and she will join us later. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! that will change

joining me now, aol post editorial director howard fineman.so washington course dents for the nation, john in this case koel nicholls. we have breaking news at this hour from "the new york times." they have broken a story indicates that the -- to quote the times, the national restaurant association gave $35,000 a year, a year's salary in severance pay to a female staff member in the late 1990s after an incounter with2herman cain. the chief of staff of that lobbying organization. howard, herman cain said he assumed that the settlement was something like a month or so's pay. it turns out it's a year's pay. this is the kind of thing that you can expect to come out in an unfolding controversy like this. more and more facts will be coming out. what does this add to the story? >> what this adds to the story is first of all, it flushes out detail about one of the accusers, and there's a -- the question remains how many we're talking about here. politte cal said to herman cain has been confused and conflicting about his memory. my understanding from

we'll get to the latest with the allegations against herman cain, howard fineman is "huffington post" editorial director and david corn is the "washington post" bureau chief for "mother jones." both msnbc political analysts. got to get to this new development here tonight, howard. how do we weigh the fact there's a third woman and we're getting a graphic depiction of at least what one woman is saying. he offered -- asked me to go to the company apartment. it's on the nbc news hasn't confirmed these allegations but let me read what the associated presses reporting late this afternoon. a third former employee says she considered filing a workplace complaint over what she considered aggressive and unwanted behavior by herman cain when she worked for the she says the behavior included a private invitation to his corporate apartment. she worked for the national restaurant association when he was its head. she told the associated press that cain made sexually suggestive remarks or gestures about the same time that two co-workers had settled separate harassment complaints against him. the em

howard fineman, jennifer donohue, who thinks gingrich is charming. they're fighting against extending the payroll tax credit, because president obama wants to cut taxes here. >>> and later, that devastating new dnc video we promised you about mitt romney against mitt romney. >> you know that mitt romney invented obama care before he was against it. do you remember that? >> well, that's what we did in massachusetts. and that is, we put together an exchange and the president's copying that idea. i'm glad to hear that. >> obama care is bad news, and if i'm president of the united states, i will repeal it. >> well, could the democrats make that flip-flopping of romney hurt? you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. you name it. i've tried it. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale using the same rigorous clinical testing tha

howard fineman, jennifer donohue, who thinks gingrich is charming.ey're fighting against male , a small town pharmacist set out to create a different kind of cold remedy using powerful medicine and natural ingredients from around the world. he called it vicks vaporub. today, the vicks journey continues. introducing new vicks nature fusion cold & flu syrup. powerful multi-symptom medicine flavored with natural honey instead of artificial flavors and dyes. so you can feel good about what you take to feel better. introducing the perfect situp. invented by the u.s. navy seal who brought you the perfect pushup, the perfect situp re-invents the situp by combining the upper ab crunch with the lower ab leg lift. then the perfect situp adds an audible coach. you'll hear a click when you've done the exercise correctly. you hear it and you'll feel it. it's this one-two punch that gets you better faster results. traditional situps and crunches are hard to do, and only effectively work half your abs -- the upper half. but the perfect situp targets and tones the u

howard fineman, jennifer donohue, who thinks gingrich is charming. they're fighting against extending the payroll tax credit, because president obama wants to cut taxes here. ♪ it's nice to be here ♪ it's nice to see you in my bed ♪ ♪ ♪ there are diamonds in her eyes ♪ ♪ and they sparkle in the night ♪ [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ when the moment comes alive [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store. take an extra 10 percent off online purchases monday only. nice, huh? yeah. you know what else is nice is all the savings you can get on cruze and traverse over there. oh! that's my beard. [ chuckles ] it's amazing. ♪ [ male announcer ] this holiday, chevy's giving more. now very well qualified lessees can sign and drive a 2012 cruze ls for around $199 a month. ♪ our machines help identify early stages of cancer, and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life matter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i

thank you, howard fineman and chris cillizza. we'll have the president's statement on the super committee coming up at 5:45. >>> coming up, think mitt romney is a flip-flopper? well, he is, of course. wait until you catch this one. newt gingrich is explaining why he changed his positions on just about everything from health care to global warming to t.a.r.p. and big shocker, every one of this has changes are to the currently popular conservative primary voter and caucus voter opinion. big surprise, newt. you're catching on. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. ess pro. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above and still pay the mid-size price. here we are... [ male announcer ] and there you go, business pro. there you go. go national. go like a pro. >>> one of the critical battleground states for the presidential race will be the stat

and howard fineman is an msnbc political analyst and "the huffington post" media group editorial director. david gregory, great to have you on. we'll talk about "meet the press" coming up this weekend. but let me ask you about this whole thing. don't you think just in a psychological way, what do you think it does to mitt romney, who's been running for president since the last time to realize that newt gingrich is now the preferred candidate of the republican party, with all newt's baggage. i mean, totally, objectively, he's carrying so much baggage, serial marriages, moved out by his own caucus for the speakership. and here he is back as if none of that happened. >> i think it's troubling for romney. at the same time, i think there's a level of resignation in the romney campaign, that their campaign was not predicated on setting the electorate on fire. by being this charming historical figure. this was going to be a different positioning for him. he was going to have to run on an economic message, on a technocratic message, on a guy who could figure out what's wrong with the economy. the

howard fineman is "the huffing post" director and political analyst and joe williams, correspondent from politico. earlier tonight it looked like the president was trapped. it looked like the conservative republicans, the hawks, if you will, on capitol hill were going to say yeah we couldn't get a deal on the $1.2 trillion and deficit reduction but we're going to save the defense department anyway and make the president look like the dove. >> that was i think their plan, as a matter of fact, the leaders of the armed services committee and the pentagon lobby was really hard at work on that already, but what the president came out and did, i think, was a very shrewd move politically and tactically. he said, unh-uh. he said "no easy off-ramps." if you try that on me i promise you now i will veto it. the only thing i will sign is another bill and you decide how to frame it, put taxes in it, put budget restorations for pentagon in it, do whatever you want but it's got to add up to $1.2 trillion. >> no slip sliding away. this is firm literature. i have to say the president reacted to the commi

the great howard fineman and massachusetts' own mike barnicle, who's covered and grown up with the kennedyse years. gentleman, you're going to be asking me the questions about jack kennedy. howard, you start. >> okay, chris. let's play hardball. >> okay. >> i know that wasn't convincing. but the first thing that occurred to me was that there have been a lot of books written about jack kennedy. i, in fact, was inspired when i was a little kid to get into the business i'm in because of reading "making of the president" in 1960 about jack kennedy and that race. why now? why another book? why were you so interested in it? especially because in the past you had written one about kennedy and nixon. why now? >> i wanted to know if he was as good as we thought he was. back in the '60s before he was killed. i wanted to know if he was the genuine article. i had a lot of access to people through oral histories, person relationships, and documents, to go back and find out what he was like in high school, what he was like in the navy, what he was like in that early going politically. how he learned to b

msnbc political analyst and "the huffington post's" howard fineman joins us now. and t"the washington post" columnist, dana milbank. i should say at the beginning here, ladies and gentlemen, the man who joined us earlier tonight in introducing herman cain was lin wood, who's an attorney, a very prominent one, based down in atlanta. he has represented former congressman gary condit, he's defended the woman in the kobe bryant case, the notorious case involving that, and he's also represented richard jewel, the security guard falsely accused of planting a bomb down a the 1996 olympics down in atlanta. david gregory, i guess the key line is, "i don't even know who this woman is," remains at the heart of this story. either he's telling the truth with his memory as it is or she's telling the truth. it seems to me hard to believe -- well, let's leave it open to you. this open question now. who's telling the truth? >> well, you raised this before we had the press conference. she's made an accusation, he's denied it. denied even knowing her. said he's never acted inappropr

and howard fineman is an msnbc political analyst and "the huffington post" media group editorial director. david gregory, great to have you on. we'll talk about "meet the press" coming up this weekend. but let me ask you about this whole thing. don't you think just in a psychological way, what do you think it can does to mitt romney, who's been running for president since the last time to realize that newt gingrich is now the preferred candidate of the republican party, with all newt's baggage. i mean, totally, objectively, he's carrying so much baggage, serial marriages, moved out by his own caucus for the speakership. and here he is back as if none of that happened. >> i think it's troubling for romney. at the same time, i think there's a level of resignation in the romney campaign, that their campaign was not predicated on setting the electorate on fire. by being this charming historical figure. this was going to be a different positioning for him. he was going to have to run on an economic message, on a technocratic message, on a guy who could figure out what's wrong with the economy.