mr. cain was not a party to that agreement. the agreement contains mutual confidentiality obligations. notwithstanding the association's ongoing policy of maintaining the privacy of all personnel matters, we have advised mr. bennett that we are willing to waive the confidentiality of this matter and per montana mr. bennett's client to comment. as indicated in mr. bennett's statement, his client prefers not to be further involved with this matter and we will respect her decision. the association has robust policies designed to ensure that employees with concerns may bring them forward for prompt investigation and resolution without risk of retaliation. the association is fully committed to equal employment opportunity and to an environment that is free from any discrimination or harassment. that statement from dawn sweeney, the president and ceo of the national restaurant association. our brian todd is there at joel bennett's office outside. gloria borger, who has been reporting on the story is here as well. let's go to brian fir

mr. cain's sexual harassment, that mr. ad engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior with her and that she was upset and surprised by his behavior. she told the businessman that mr. cain had been aggressive with her. our client is very brave to have come forward. she will explain why she has decided to do so in her own words. she could have attempted to sell her story but chose not to do so. she knows that by stepping out into the light that she will face public scrutiny. we applaud her for her courage. if all of these allegations by all of the women who have been reported to have made them are true, then i, for one, am disgusted at mr. cain's serial sexual harassment of women. because there cain, while running for president, is actively lying to americans, showing disdain for our comm commonsense and intellect and showing that he could care less about the impact of his behavior on the dignity of these women. it is time to hold politicians to a higher standard. we need to know the truth about those that are running for offi

mr. cain himself was in no mood to talk about any of this today. >> don't even bother asking me all of these other questions that you all are curious about, okay? don't even bother. >> it's a good question, though. >> are you concerned about the fact that these women do want -- >> what did i say? >> are you concerned about -- >> excuse me. excuse me! >> at least one of the women is trying to tell her account. the restaurant association confirms tonight it was contacted by her attorney and the attorney says he wants to negotiation an end to the confidentiality agreement she signed when she reached a cash settlement with the trade group back in the late 1980s. those talks could begin in earnest tomorrow. it is, to say the least, a dizzying collection of allegations and denials, and it comes just 62 days before the first votes are cast in iowa, a critical state to both the cain and perry candidate sis. let's discuss this fast-moving storying and political consequences with gloria borger, richard

what mr. cain said in his press conference tonight as it relates to your client, was, in fact, not forthcoming and could be misleading to the public as it relates to your client and the -- and what happened around the claims of your client in 1999? >> that is correct. >> joel bennett, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> here to talk about this whole situation is jonathan capehart, msnbc contributor and editorial writer for "the washington post" and rebecca henderson also for "the washington post." thank you for joining me. can herman cain survive this by simply denying all of the allegations that you heard mr. bennett say here? this is the first interview i know of after the press conference. but thaw his client will come forward and he wants to organize the other woman to come forward. what mr. cain said about his client and knowledge of a settlement or characterizing a settlement as opposed to an agreement was misleading, can he survive this? >> it's hard to say how he can go day af

and proud of it. >> yes, i'm glad you are proud of that, mr. cain, because you may not be as proud of this. the latest nbc poll found among all voter, herman cain's favorability rate suggest going down. mr. cain has the chance to change all of that later this evening. on the eve of a huge republican debate on the economy, mr. cain decided to do his preparation by appearing with who else but jimmy kimmel. for more on mr. cain's latest troubles, i am joined by msnbc contributor and author of who is afraid of post blackness. what it means to be black now and communications director and msnbc political analyst. i have to begin with you, karen. what is your immediate reaction to this woman's statement? >> oh, martin. didn't we know we would end up here at some point. as we were discussing on friday, this changes the dynamics in a member of ways. number one, last week it was a one-sided conversation with herman cain basically doing all the talking. now we have a human being standing in front of us, telling us her side of the story. number two, matt lewis

mr. cain's campaign. mr. cain needs address new allegations head on, unlike anonymous allegations miss bialek appeared credible and i was disturbed by her characterization of what happened. >> first lit me say concerned women of america said during '96 during the clinton scandal that character counts. it's important for us to weigh in on the issue as much as we can. i don't think all of the facts are out yet. i don't -- he was emphatic but yet you saw he left the door open for other women to come forward. we've seen several women, up to four, perhaps five that have come forward, and so until this is all hashed out, i think that we've all got to continue to wait and see. but it's very disturbing, very troubling and it's gotten us off track of the issues so important to this country. >> you used the word troubling about the allegations. he used the word "troubled" to describe one of his accusers, a troubled woman. i've gotten a number of e-mails since then, she has a history of personal financial issues, a histo

because mr. cains the need for a sense of humor, it's easy for us to be seduced by his rapid-fire one liners, his singing of "imagine there's no pizza," and his smoking chief of staff. it's all good fun. but while mr. cain's campaign might be a joke, his conduct, his alleged conduct, is not. in fact, as the accusations pile up, mr. cain seems less funny by the day and more like a dirty old man. [ rattling ] jason... really buddy, wow. samantha jane. ♪ guys, christmas dinner and you're bringing toys to the table? ♪ that, that's not a toy... let's eat! [ male announcer ] get low prices on the gifts they love. and layaway is back, so you can pay a little at a time. save money. live better. walmart. and these come together, one thing you can depend on is that these will come together. delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. add listerine® total care for more complete oral care. ♪ it works in six different ways to restore

mr. cain's side. what we did get in a little bit of detail some response to this from the national restaurant association. part of a statement they issued read, in july 1999 mr. ben net's client filed a clants associati the policies. herman cain disputed the complaints. the soev yassociation entered i agreement without admission of liable. mr. cain was not a party to the agreement. herman cain this week strongly disputing these allegations against him, john. >> brian that is the one client, mr. bennett represents. you're learning new information about a second woman who suggests mr. cain behaved inappropriately. what can you tell us. >> reporter: that's right. we spoke to a former employee of the national restaurant association who knows the accuser. the second accuser, not mr. bennett's client, a second accuser, came to the employee's office on the day this accuser left the national restaurant association, the accuser said to this employee, that she was not getting along with her bosses, that she was

that mr. cain had been... when i was returned back to new jersey where i was staying, i told my boyfriend, mr. cain had been very sexually inappropriate with me and shortly thereafter i told another friend of mine who has been a mentor the same thing. i didn't tell them the details because quite frankly i was very embarrassed. that mr. cain had been sexually inappropriate to me. >> woodruff: bialek said she came forward after reports surfaced that at least three other women said cain had sexually harassed them. >> i'm coming forward to give a face and a voice to those women who cannot or, for whatever reason, do not wish to come forward. on behalf of all women who are sexually harassed in the workplace but do not come out of fear of retaliation or in public humiliation. i really didn't want to be here today. and i wouldn't have been here if it had not been for the other three women who have alleged sexual harassment against mr. cain. i want you, mr. cain, to come clean, just admit what you did. ad

on the substance i would argue mr. cainbenefit of the doubt or innocence until proven guilty. but in the court of public opinion, cain and his team are failing, and the truth is that matter, whether or not the harassment allegations have any merit. the first response was to say almost nothing. >> mr. cain, did you engage in unwanted sexual advances toward members of the restaurant association? mr. cain, can you answer the questions, though, please? did you ever engage in any innuendo with members of the restaurant association? >> no! >> then cain did acknowledge being aware of the allegations but he flatly denied any knowledge of the settlements. >> as far as a settlement, i am unaware of any sort of settlement. i hope it wasn't for much because i didn't do anything. >> a few hours later he was discussing in varied detail -- in detail the very detail the settlements he knew nothing about. >> we ended up settling for what would have been a termination settlement, quite frankly. >> what would that be about? >> maybe about thr

mr. cainaround and decided to wait backstage at the club for a few more minutes so they could enter the press conference on their own terms instead of announced by the howard stern guy. the press conference finally did start. the accuser who came forward today was a woman who worked at the national restaurant association educational foundation in the mid 1990s. she said after losing her job at the nra's foundation she met mr. cain in washington to ask him for hep in getting another job. mr. cain made an aggressive and unwanted sexual advance toward her. >> he suddenly reached over and he put his hand on my leg, under my skirt and reached for my genitals. he also grabbed my head and brought it toward his crotch. i was very, very surprised and very shocked. i said, what are you doing? you know i have a boyfriend. this isn't what i came here for. mr. cain said, you want a job, right? i asked him to stop and he did. >> herman cain campaign responded to this. actually they sort of presponded to thi

mr. cain said "you want a job, right?" i asked him to stop and he did. >> reporter: bialek, a single flor the chicago area, detailed the allegations in a packed press conference with celebrity lawyer gloria allred at her side. >> mr. cain set next me-to-me at the restaurant. >> reporter: bialek zez said she met cain at a national restaurant association convention in 1997 when he was president of the group and she worked for its educational foundation in chicago. the association fired bialek about a month after this t convention telling her it wasn't happy with her fund-raising efforts. she says she then contacted cain for help in getting another job. >> i called mr. cain's office... >> reporter: she told reporters she arranged a trip to washington to meet with cain and said her then-boyfriend booked her a room at the capitol hilton. when she arrived at the hotel, she said she had an enormous suite. >> he asked how i liked my room which is kind of normal and i said i was very surprised. mr. cai

mr. cain is speaking out going on the air again tonight, continuing to claim he is the victim of a smear campaign over sexual harassment allegations. the changing allegations and hazy recall put the story on the radar. a late twist. an accuser reportedly wants to talk. she wants out of the confidentiality agreement signed as part of the settlement with the national restaurant association, where herman cain was her boss in the late '90s. "the new york post" spoke to her lawyer, joel bennet. he says, quote, it is just frustrating that herman cain is going around bad-mouthing the two complainants and my client is blocked by a confidentiality agreement." although bennet told "the post" he couldn't remember the accused was herman cain and said it was settled quickly by fax and phone and herman cain recounted what starts like a drawn-out process. >> it started out making some huge claims for sexual harassment. i do recall that she was asking for a large sum of money. i don't remember what that sum o

mr. cain, to come clean. just admit what you did. admit you were inappropriate to people. >> another week, another accuser. the most recent woman to accuse a presidential con contender of harassment. >> a jury says he was responsible. how much time conrad murray faces for the death of michael jackson. >>> and this is the bay area's newest crime wave. >> i felt someone from behind me. >> phone snatched right from people's hands. tonight, hear from two thieves. >> people are afraid. >> the kind of people they target, their advice to you. >> and good evening, i'm ken. >> i'm dana king. >>> and we begin tonight with breaking news. a crude oil pipeline on the weapons station has broken. it has been leaking for hours and creating an awful smell. juliette goodrich is there and saying the stench is forcing some people from the neighborhood. juliette. >> we can tell you firsthand, we can smell it, it's a strong sulfur smell. it was worse a couple hours ago. chopper 5 above right now. we want to take yo

mr. cain's office and left a message for mr. cain. he called me back.s unaware of it. i explained that i was going to be visiting my boyfriend's family and would be only a couple of hours by train from d.c. where the n.r.a. national office was. i asked him if we could meet for coffee. he said he would. i then took the train to washington, d.c. when i checked into the room, i was shocked. i had a palatial suite. and the bellman -- i said the the bellman, there has to be some mistake. but he insisted there was no mistake. i later found out that mr. cain had arranged for the suite. we had drinks at the hotel and he asked how i liked my room, which is kind of normal. and i was very -- i said i was very surprised. i said, i can't believe i've got this great suite, it's gorgeous. mr. cain kind of smirked and then said, i upgraded you. he then took me to an italian restaurant where we had dinner. during dinner, mr. cain looked at me and said, why are you here? i said, actually, herman, my boyfriend whom you met suggested that i meet with you because he thought

. >> mr. cain had been sexually inappropriate to me. >> accusing mr. cain of sexual harassment. >> put his hand on my leg. >> his idea of a stimulus package. >> when you see gloria allred stepping forward to represent someone, you know it's about to get bad. >> i'm here today with my client, sharon bialek. >> let me play the sound from sharon bialek, she's this latest woman. >> that amazing tape from a new herman cain accuser. >> put his hand on my leg, under my skirt. >> nbc news has not independently confirmed these new allegations. >> i said, what are you doing? >> nbc news has not confirmed these woman's allegation. >> mr. cain said, you want a job, right? >> i need to stress nbc news has not independently confirmed this. >> i for one am disgusted. >> don't even go there. >> can i ask my question? >> no. >> cain is still raking in the campaign cash. >> he's the front-runner. >> his supporters are basically saying, you know, thumbing their nose at the media. >> please send him the journalistic code of ethics. >> the cain train, it just keeps going ar

mr. herman cain is fighting back. he is denying the accusations against him, but you will hear directly from mr. herman cain next. >>> plus senator john mccain is blistering mad. so mad he was pounding the podium on the senate floor. we went to see him to find out more. [ male annouer ] juice drink too watery? ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for unsurpassed fru and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion. could've had a v8. congratulations. congralations. today, the city of charlotte can use verizon technology to inspire binesses to conserve energy and monitor costs. making communities greener... congratulations. ... and buildings as valuable to the bottom line... whoa ! ... as the people inside them. congratulations. because when you add verizon to your company, you don't just add, you multiply. ♪ discover something new... verizon. if something is simply the color of gold, is it really worth more? we don't think so. chase sapphire preferred is a card of a different color. that's because you always ge

my next guest is a vocal supporter of mr. cain. so vocal some took offense at racially charged comment he's made gathered for a cain rally at a texas dog track. >> it's the democratic party that's the racist. the party of the ku klux klan and the party of segregation and the party of the kkk. they are the racists. >> i'm glitdelighted to bring t founder of raging elephants.com. good afternoon, sir. >> mr. bashir. thank you for the invitation. i made it to the big time. i am msdnc. >> it is not actually that, but mr. cane is behind the emergence and you are from texas. do you agree? >> i have no idea. i am not affiliated with the cain campaign at all and either is raging elephants. . we have not endorsed a candidate for the nomination for president. i have no inside campaigns to any of the campaigns. i could not be of any a civilance on that issue. >> herman cain believes the allegations from three separate women that he reportedly sexually harassed are driven by racism. do you agree with his assessment? >> once again, i don't know.

mr. cain's going up or down. ch is important, iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, then it's off to florida, you got a dead heat, romney/cain dead heat. >> well what we make of it is, mitt romney's been campaigning for six years and herman cain hasn't been out there that long. he's pretty neck and neck with him. he's resonating with the grassroots. grassroots want ant opportunity to have their own candidate and herman cain is at the top of the line. >> ed, this is -- continue state by state, not just national, herman cain is proving he's a force in the race. a lot of us at this a while, we say does he have the infrastructure, an organization, can he sustain it? is he going to prove us wrong? >> who knows? know of this matters at this point in time. florida, ten big media markets, it's very similar, i grew up in california, it's similar to california, it's a mini nation, i think what the poll, this poll indicates is reflective of the national poll, 25% do not want romney andnary narnary they're fine somebody else.

in addition to the mr. cainassed anyone today, the herman cain art project tweeted a welcome to the campaign message to the attorney who is representing the new accuser. the tweet said, welcome to the campaign. what took you so long. it included a link where people can donate to the herman cain art project in iowa. the herman cain art project has been bragging about how much money the sexual harassment allegations have helped them raise. they say they raised $2.8 million between july and september this year. that was before the sexual harassment allegations started to come out. once cain supporters learned of the allegations of him sexually harassing women, the numbers took over. 2.8 million raised in three months before the allegations and they've raised almost that much since, about $2 million since the allegations have come out. there's an old well-stoked conservative paranoia that any allegation has been made up by a media out to get them. in this case the herman cain performance art project has brilliantly

. >> well, mr. cain, you're very welcome come on this show any time and tell your side of the story or, indeed, take lie detector test, live why not? that is all for us tonight. "ac 360" starts now. we begin tonight keeping them honest. herman cain stepped up to deny any and all sexual harassment allegations against him by any and every accuser, period. none of it happened, he says, period. what's more, he says he has no memory at all of sharon bialek, the woman who came forward yesterday and accused him of groping her while offering her a job if she let him go further. he called her a troubled woman brought forth by the democratic machine, unquote. his lawyer this evening attacking bialek. ,at the same time mr. cain saying he doesn't remember her. >> i tried to remember if i recognized her, and i didn't. i tried to remember if i remembered that name, and i didn't. the charges and the accusations i absolutely reject. they simply didn't happen. they simply did not happen. >> so it did not happen, and he d

. >> i met mr. cainhile i was employed at the educational foundation of the national restaurant association. >> reporter: bialek said her job was terminated in june 1997. today, the trade group would not comment on her dismissal. bialek said she contacted cain at her boyfriend's suggestion, hoping to find a new job. she arranged to meet cain at the capital hilton in washington. after dinner and drinks she said cain offered to drive her to the restaurant association's offices. reading from a statement, bialek gave reporters a graphic account of an alleged sexual advance by cain. >> instead of going into the offices he suddenly reached over and he put his hand on my leg, under my skirt and reached for my genitals. he also grabbed my head and brought it towards his crotch. >> reporter: bialek said she was shocked. >> i said, what are you doing? you know i have a boyfriend. this isn't what i came here for. mr. cain said, you want a job, right? >> reporter: bialek said she rebuffed him and he stopped. >> i re

mr. cain's phrase and validated by mr. cain himself as true and accurate. >> but so you won't say one way or another whether or not another campaign rival to cain or on the other side of the political aisle directed you to these allegations? >> that's correct, anderson. i'm going to stick in every instance to what was in the actual story. >> john harris, i appreciate you being with us. i want to turn to the political and legal panel. jeffrey, a cain supporter wants to be released. a, can she be released? b, is it -- i mean, is it right for her to be released if she signed an agreement saying i'm not going to talk about this and taking money for that? why now should she be released? >> well, certainly, to answer your first question she can be released. a contract is simply an agreement between two parties. here presumably the national restaurant association and this woman. contracts can be changed, modified, if both parties agree so to answer the question of can she, sure. is the answer of should she? i think, frankly, the a

mr. cain. with cbs news. i want to ask you a two part question. first of all, do you think it is appropriate for a candidate's character to come under a microscope in a campaign and secondly, you were basically in a he said, she said situation. she is saying something, you're saying something, they are both opposing each other. as distasteful as it might be. would you be willing to do a lie detector test to prove your honesty in something like this? >> yes. i absolutely would. but i'm not going to do that unless i have a good reason to do that. that was one of the first comments i made in watching this to my staff. i also shared that with my attorney. of course i would be willing to do a lie detector test. secondly, i believe the character and integrity of a candidate running for president should come under microscope with facts. not accusations. >> mr. cain, the poll released this afternoon that 40% of republican votes view you less favorably. given that reaction, how can you convince nonsupp