and sam stein, political reporter for "the huffington post." gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight. sam, let's start with you. reassessing the campaign. in political talk, that means we're not going to be around here much longer but let's see what we can make of it. is this just putting up the flag pole and seeing which way it blows with the public? what do you make of it? >> it certainly seems like that. we have to keep in mind the context of this. this was a presidential campaign that was supposed to be a book tour, a national book tour to establish cain's national celebrity, in fact. and so now that it's gone terribly awry and now that personal questions have been raised, there's really no point, necessarily, in herman cain staying in the race. the whole point was for him to establish better credentials. when you start reassessing these things and when more and more people come forward, yeah, i think you don't say you're reassessing unless you're considering leaving. >> he fooled a lot of people. he's not out of the race yet. maybe a p

sam stein, it is perry -- >> it is, though. enough. >> yeah, we've heard enough. >> this isn't the point. the point is not exactly who leaked the information, although that's great political fodder. the fact of the matter was, he was accused twice of sexual harassment. that's the big story. yes, people leak opposition research in politics. it's not a big surprise. obviously the story came from one of two places. either someone who worked for the nra or previously worked for cain whom he told. but beyond that, let's not lose sight, this man was accused twice sexual harassment. that's the actual story. >> and the way he's responding to it, actually, is -- >> i think that's the significant part. >> the big story that suggests he just isn't ready. >> well, it's interesting to watch somebody who is super successful in business, they're not accustomed to being hit with questions. whereas you're a governor of a big state or member of congress where your life includes being poked at by people with tough questions. sometimes people in b

. >>> still ahead, sam stein, luke russert going to join joe in d.c.on pages. companies you're just a policy. at aviva, we're bringing humanity back to insurance and putting people before policies. aviva life insurance and annuities. we are building insurance around you. how about making it brighter. more colorful. ♪ and putting all our helpers to work? so we can build on our favorite traditions by adding a few new ones. we've all got garlands and budgets to stretch. and this year, we can keep them both evergreen. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. make your season even brighter with 300-count icicle lights for just $7.48. make your season even brighter make your season even brighter ♪ we're centurylink... a new kind of broadband company committed to improving lives with honest, personal service, 5-year price lock guarantees and consistently fast speeds. ♪ confidence. available in color. depend for women is now peach. looks and fits like underwear. same great protection. depend. good morning. great day. >>> hey, welcome back t

alex wagner and sam stein joining us.me you've got to be mitt romney thinking through how you find your way through the flip-flop issue. is this something, a, he can fix, or b, that the independent voter's just going to say, hey, male or female, you know, i flip a lot on issues. i'm not sure where i stand. is there any way this doesn't hurt him? alex? >> alex first? >> i'm sorry, go ahead, sam. >> i mean, i think this is something that's dogged mitt romney for a while now. and it's sort of ingrained in the voter's mind that he has a problem with consistency. my surprise is it took the dnc to do this. usually you would expect that mitt romney's opponents for the primaries would be the ones who. it creates problems for him. john kerry in 2004, if you hammer away enough at someone's core consistency and accuse them of being a flip-flopper -- >> sam, go to the next step. how could you as a citizen vote or support a candidate who you knew flip-flopped. tell me your mental process of saying, yeah, but i'll vote for him. how wou

sam stein is the white house correspondent for "huffington post" and susan milligan is with "u.s.report." susan, that looked like the talking points to me of the obama campaign voiced by its top kick. >> absolutely. well, look, that's their strongest argument at this point, and that's what romney's problem has been in the primary, is that he's not completely trusted by the conservative wing of his party. and i think that there's a sense that people don't completely know who he is. mario cuomo had this issue come up when he was governor of new york and he was running again and some people said, you know, you've got to change your mind on the death penalty and be for the death penalty, most new yorkers are. and he wouldn't do it. and he sat with us in the statehouse and he said, if you change your mind on something that fundamental, people won't trust you again. you're not going to win over the people whose side you went over to and you're going to lose the people who were with you before. and people just want to know who you are, particularly on things like abortion and gay rights

sam stein, ron çpaul, sits the subbornly with 8%, 9%, 10%.ell. >> and ron paul has sort of had that corner of the party for a while now, and it's basically stayed around 10% to 12%, like you said. we've talked a little bit off set about what role, if any, huntsman could play in terms of coming up and seizing some of that anti-romney sentiment, and i think i'm in agreement with you guys, if he's going to do it he has to present himself as different as what he's been doing so far which is as the moderate in the field. he's defined himself by what he is against, and i think you're starting to see his advisers present him again as the only true conservative alternative for romney. huntsman has been taking some of the more sharper jabs against mitt romney against anyone else in the field and you have to understand he realizes his opportunity is right now. >> what can president obama learn from jack kennedy? we have chris matthews here. a great book on jfk providing a unique intimate portrait of our 25th president. and in greece there's new fear th

one of the doctors who got the fax was a mother of a good reporter at "huffington post" named sam stein who followed up on the award letter from newt gingrich and discovered in order to attend the exclusive party with newt gingrich in washington, all his mother would have had to do was send newt gingrich $5,000. now, mr. gingrich didn't just pull this scam with doctors, he was doing this sort of thing with all sorts of businesses. like, for example, the strip club in dallas to which he tried to bestow an entrepreneur of the year award. if they'd give him thousands of dollars as well. that scam included a commemorative gavel that was fake signed by newt gingrich. this is how newt gingrich has been making his money. this is the caching that makes newt gingrich go. he's a nigerian prince e-mail send me your bank accounts guy. he does direct mail, suckerless, bottom fielding, prey on the gullible financial scams. the key to them, the thing that makes it work for newt gingrich is it's all based on the glamour and prestige of newt gingrich. prestige of the speakership of the house. that's wha

one of the doctors who got the fax was a mother of a good reporter at "huffington post" named sam stein who followed up on the award letter from newt gingrich and discovered in order to attend the exclusive party with newt gingrich in washington, all his mother would have had to do was send newt gingrich $5,000. now, mr. gingrich didn't just pull this scam with doctors, he was doing this sort of thing with all sorts of businesses. like, for example, the strip club in dallas to which he tried to bestow an entrepreneur of the year award. if they'd give him thousands of dollars as well. that scam included a commemorative gavel that was fake signed by newt gingrich. this is how newt gingrich has been making his money. this is the ca-ching that makes newt gingrich go. he's a nigerian prince e-mail send me your bank accounts guy. he does direct mail, suckerless, bottom feeding, prey on t gullible financial scams. the key to them, the thing that makes it work for newt gingrich is it's all based on the glamour and prestige of newt gingrich. prestige of the speakership of the house. that's what

you can see sam stein's reaction. you can compare the two.we need to inform the public about our work journalists and the white house. host: there is a difference between what the professor said and what you said. guest: i asked him if he got his sources dropped. i was interpreting what the professor told me. i asked sam stein a question. journalists always interpret large amounts of information. host: the republican line. good morning. caller: keep up the good work, james. i appreciate what you are doing. what ever became of the acorn organization and those two black ladies who wanted to help you find underage prostitutes? guest: when we did the acorn investigation, all of the employees you saw were fired. we released the video is one at a time. a few days into the release, bank of america cut ties with acorn. the senate and house voted to defund acorn. a corn lost its federal funding after hour video. i know a coin has certain subgroups. they are reorganizing. there is a group in new york called the working families party operating in the s