i m erin burnett and out front tonight, a deal, finally. a deal. house republicans agree to the senate s two-month payroll tax extension. this includes unemployment benefits and that doc fix that prevents people that take medicare doctors getting a big drop in payments. the house added one small tweak that will make it easier for employers to actually process the tax breaks since this really is the final hour before midnight on a tax change. the gop s image, though, has taken a beating. cnn orc poll found that when it comes to handling major issues, people have increasing confidence in president obama. look at him now, 50% have more confidence in him. back in march it was only 44. when you look at republicans in congress, 31% now versus nearly 40 in march. how damaging is this to the republican party? what can it do to fix its image as we head into iowa and a presidential election. senator scott brown joins us tonight. it s great to be on, erin. you know, i didn t know
house democrats tried to bring up the tax extension on capitol hill. the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on friday mr. speaker, mr. speaker. mr. speaker! that was a democrat there trying to get the attention. he failed. less than a half hour later, after cutting off the democrats the house republican leader was asking, where are they? we re here, ready to work. looking for our counterparts to sit down with us. so when will the games be set aside and both sides actually start working together to save you money? dana bash working her sources on capitol hill. republicans seem to be on the defensive now. i want to read you from the wall street journal editorial today. the wall street journal generally a conservative editorial page. they call this a fiasco. quote, the gop leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday they are surely going to pass. this is no easy double play. so the wall
a week of twists and turns in the race for the republican presidential nomination. with two of the candidates in a very hot spotlight. herman cain facing accusations of sexual harassment and rick perry stumbling badly if the latest gop debate and now struggling to recover. cnn s jim acosta is watching awe of this unfold. so what s going on right now? there are certain there is certainly a lot at play. certainly. there is an unromney and his name is newt gingrich. take a look at new polls that came out, first the let s look at the first poll first. mitt romney on top 23% and then newt gingrich at 19%. he has moved into that unromy position. he is sliding it with herman cain. and then you see ron paul and rick perry. this poll, we should note, is interesting in that it was taken in part after the gop debate on wednesday night when rick perry had that big oops moment. so that potentially has hurt him in this race for the gop nomination. now to the cbs poll which also confirm
football coach mike mcqueary won t be at tomorrow s game due to threats. he saw jerry sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in the shower in 2002. the lawyer for sandusky is speaking out saying the former defense coordinator has been tried in the court of public opinion. the lawyer says that sandusky is devastated by what happened to paterno. and pennsylvania s two u.s. senators are taking back their support for the nomination of paterno for the presidential medal of freedom. and now another bombshell, new allegations against jerry sandusky coming out of san antonio, ftexas. cnn, jason carroll has that story for us. good morning. and good morning to you. this all coming from a man who is identified as victim number four in the grand jury report. apparently, martin, when he was 12 years old, he says that jerry sandusky took him to the alamo bowl in texas and sexually assaulted him. but, let s back up a little bit before that. according to prosecutors, they say that this all b
university president vowed unconditional support for both of them. jason carroll is there. the question now is, what exactly did they know and when did they know it? exactly. perhaps we will get more answers later on today when the attorney general holds a press conference. when you talk about that unconditional support, you have to wonder about that now because the two school officials resigned late last night. he s a legend in the world of college football. for 23 years, jerry sandusky served as defensive coordinator for the lions. now he is out on bail and defending himself against charges he sexually abused young boys, one as young as 8 years old. they are accused of covering up the incidents resigned in the wake of the scandal. sandusky s lawyer said his client is innocent. jerry is very, very depressed and upset. he is very distraught about the changes and the allegations. the knowledge that regardless he proves his guilt or innocence, people are going to think he