i'm erin burnett. out front tonight, herman cain. the gop frontrunner fighting back against allegations of sexual harassment. >> i absolutely reject, they simply didn't happen. they simply did not happen. >> four women have now accused of gop candidate of inappropriate behavior and we now know the identity of two. just hours ago, we learned more about another accuser, her name is karen, director of communications at the treasury department and according to a friend, she called cain a quote/unquote monster. this is the woman whose lawyer told the nation on friday that his client did not want to identify herself and did not want to divulge any details about the alleged encounter. but obviously she is saying now that she would do so perhaps with other people in a press conference. unofficial adviser to herman cain's campaign, appreciate you taking the time to come out and talk about this tonight. i just want to ask you this, have you at the campaign had the conversation middle of the night, everyone's eyes are blood shot where you say, her man, have you put everything on the table, have you told us everything absolutely everything kind of a come to jesus moment?, have you told us everything absolutely everything kind of a come to jesus moment? >> i've not had that conversation with herman. i'm certain that others within the campaign have had that conversation with him. probably before the campaign even got kicked off. but i think what a wonderful moment. it's strange to say this on a day like today, but i'm very proud to be an american. here you have an african-american man from the south, the grandson -- grew up in segregation, the grandson or great grandson of slaves. being accused of not sexual harassment, he's accused of sexual molestation. he's accused of assault or at least it's right on the border of assault. and it's only a few decades ago that in many parts of the south a black man that is accused of something like that would be tried in the streets and be convicted on a tree. and nevertheless, today he was defended quite articulately by mr. linn, i believe his name is, a prominent southern white southern attorney. that imagery was a powerful imagery and that imagery is the imamiri of the unification that herman cain brings this campaign. and i must tell that you there are a lot of folk within the elite, conservatives and liberals, that are terrified of that image in this campaign. >> let me ask you this, though, because when you talk about the image of hanging of the tree, that's an i incredibly upsetting image to a lot of people are you are you going so far as to say this truly is that racially motivated? >> i will say this, look. first of all, erin, you probably know my history and my father's history. we don't play the race card. that's not our game. we tend take-to-take the race card off the table when it is unfairly used. take the race card off the table when it is unfairly used.take the race card off the table when it is unfairly used. but having said that, we have to be a fool to deny 200 years of history in our country. and one of the most powerful stereotypes that unfortunately this whole situation conjures up is the stereotype of a black-skinned, black man being overly sexed and sexually going after or having some sexual hung forea white woman. now, what i think is interesting, though, is that mr. cain's character assassins and that's what i call them, including ms. bial eventek, the underestimate the decency of the american people. they don't realize that what i saw on that stage today is a symbol of america turning the page largely on the question of race within our country. >> i hear you on that point. and i think that's one of the reasons people applaud the herman cain campaign in terms of his becoming a candidate at all. but when you say that we can't get beyond the whole issue of a black male and white woman, is it perhaps that these women coming forward in this modern time proof that we are beyond that, that this isn't about the hyper sexualized black male, it's about a woman telling her side of the story and a mantling his and that it isn't about race at all? because it doesn't sound like you're making it about race. >> well, what i am saying is this. i'm saying the way that the media is treating this case, there is a pi poi pock accuracy and double standard vis-a-vis bill clinton who had alleged charges of not making people feel uncomfortable, but things such as rape and john edwards, the whole john edwards issue had to be broken not by the establishment mainstream media, but by the "national enquirer." so there certainly is a double standard and there is a scrutiny that i would argue that black conservatives like justice thomas, like herman cain, are under that others are not under. there's no question that the type of rallying that the black liberal establishment, the race mongers that tend to defense all types of individuals including criminals, that they did not rally to herman cain's defense. there's hypocrisy there. there is a willingness for certain liberals on another network to cast dispersions at herman cain at his intelligence. this idiot bashir saying he doesn't know how to spell iraq. these kinds of things are hypocritical. >> and i don't know what you're referring to there at all. but i do want to say there was one thing you said there that -- the john edwards point is interesting and you have a point about how that happened. but you've known herman cain for just a few years. how do you know that this didn't happen, how can you come on so dramatically here and defend him when by at least the information i have, you didn't know him well at the time these allegations happened. >> that's fair. i've known of herman cain and met him over a ten year period. but i've only personally gotten to know him for over the last few years. and you're right, there is no question you were not there, i was not there, 99.999% of all americans or people on the planet don't know exactly what occurred will. so we can only look at what it before us and make our judgment. and if you look at ms. bial event k's press conference and you look at her weird and bizarre behavior of not only her, but of gloria all-red, and i know glor yarks i like gloria personal personally, but she's the poster -- >> do you? >> i like americpersonally. i don't like the way she pursues her profession. i think she's the poster child for why we need dramatic radical tort reform and things like loser pays in these tort cases. but, no, i know her personally. but i also know her game. and i don't like her game. but doing an analysis of ms. bialek's statement and how she made her statement and gloria allred saying this is a stimulus package and -- >> i agree, i thought that was distasteful. >> and then bialek saying she went home to her boyfriend, but she he didn't it he will htell details. >> i also thought that was unusual that she would have shared with someone. but then i started thinking about experiences i've had or women i know have had and sexual harassment at work parties, it's common, women often do feel guilty or awkward in, a sense it's sort of like how the race issue is for you, which is it's there but not there. for a lot of women i think the sexism issue is there but not there. is that something you can understand? >> i can definitely understand it and more than understand it, i empathize with it. and what i say, and i want to be consistent here, the way that i address those who put the race card on the issue unfairly and how it undermines legitimate cases and examples of racism, how it undermines and disresp t disrespects those ancestors of ours that truly had to overcome racism, say that for sexual harassment, as well. when you have a fraudulent charge, and let me say i believe these are fraudulent charges. if i was herman, i'll talk to herman later tonight oorks , i' to suggest that he sue her for defamation of his character. i think she's a fake and fraud. but if she is a fake, it does a terrible disservice to real victims of zeksz all harassment, it does a terrible disservice to women out there that really are victims. >> i would agree. and if tends up being true, i know that hopefully you will come on and amend some of your statements. sg . >> you better believe it. there thank you for your frank interview. coming up, we'll bring in penny and jamal to talk about what we just heard. penny had a comment on mr. cain today and sylvie on berlusconi, a journalist who has followed the story comes out front, this is a big story for the world and you may not realize it, but it is election day today. some very big referendums on women's rights and unions. we're talking about abortions. and final, what does sarkozy really think about other world leaders is th leaders? 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>> i think he did a good job to express his opinion, but i wanted to say that concerned women for america was very clear in 1996 during the bill clinton scandal when he was having sex with a 21-year-old intern that character counts. and we've got to be consistent today again delivering that message. character counts. we want to hear all the facts and this is an important conversation to have. now we're at four women. if they're lying like your earlier guest said, then i agree, i think herman cain should sue them and we'll see what comes out on discovery. i think that we need to get to the bottom of this. the country needs a strong leader that doesn't just have business acumen, but also has a good moral compass and good judgment. >> jamal, what do you think about this whole race issue? do you think it is an issue here, or do you think that's unfair? >> you know, i like nyger. but i think his statements were just ridiculous. to try to argue that this is a moment of some great racial progress is baffling to me. at the same time, the idea by the herman cain camp or any of the people affiliated with him that they want to inject race into this conversation, when herman cain himself said racism in this country today doesn't hold anybody back in a big way, that was herman cain's position. so for him to now be in a tough spot and to claim that race is the issue, those who are aligned with him, they should take cain's position on this. so we could argue there are issues about an and what's appropriate in the workplace, there are issues about gender politics at play here. all sorts of things. but race just does not seem to be one of them for me. >> it was interesting how he brought in the whole issue of what he said the hyper sexualized black male, the issue in american history, which it is something interesting to think about. penny, do you think there's anything at all to that? it seems like it's all of a sudden to bring it on the table as opposed to saying it all the way along. >> i don't know how african americans feel about this, but i do know and i do believe that socially conservative african-americans and women conservatives have a harder time vee at mainstream media than others. but it doesn't mean we get to make it easy for them. it doesn't mean that our character doesn't get questions just like everyone else. and when we make a miss take, we have to talk about it. the other point i wanted for say, i'm not sure -- i don't believe it's fair to equate justice thomas' situation with herman cain's situation. let's remember there was only one anita hill and anita hill had followed justice thomas for years from job to job to job and then decided years later maybe there's some similarity there to file a complaint. but that's where it ends. i just don't believe that these are -- i don't believe these are the same situation and i think it's very disrespectful to justice thomas to equate the two. >> thanks very much. we appreciate both of your taking the time and weighing in on this. well it may be getting lost in the herman cain saga, but it is election day and voters across the country are casting ballots are really important issues. in ohio, voters deciding whether or not to restrict the bargaining rights of public union workers and there's a fascinating ballot initiative in mississippi that if passed would define life as beginning at conception. john avalon is joining us and tom foreman. tom, mch. voters deciding whether to amendment the constitution of the say the to redefine when life begins. what's the bottom line? >> the about the line is this is stirring up a lot of tough feelings. what they would define here is that a person begins the moment stirring up a lot of tough feelings. what they would define here is that a person begins the moment an egg is fertilized. it doesn't whether it's rape, incest, whether the mother is in daer danger. at that point, all forms of abortion would become illegal. under this law, there's the question of what do you do with the eggs that are not being used to continue the pregnancy. so a lot of complications and it has fired up a lot of debate down there, including among many conservative christians, some of whom say this is actually the kind of end run that is needed around roe/wade and others say this is unreasonable. >> it's fascinating. john, it does challenge roe v wade. what would it mean nationally? >> nationally it would send a signal that this attempt to kick this to the supreme court ultimately was fully in effect. overnight it would ban abortion or attempt to ban abortions in mississippi. but as tom said, this is controversial not just in the polling between men and women, democrats and republican, but even some right to life groups and the local cath thick bishop said they're opposed to abortion, but this is too extreme.thick bishop said they're opposed to abortion, but this is too extreme. so this is a real cliffhanger. >> this is where you get your base. tom, let me ask you about ohio. this is a big deal for unions and their benefits. what's the bottom line on that? >> the mississippi vote will be about 8:00. in ohio, the votes should start coming in around the polls closing at 7:30. in the ohio ballot, issue number 2, they're talking about collective g collective bargaining. the republican governor there signed a new law which takes away a lot of collect of it bargaining rights from 350,000 workers in the state, police, firemen, teachers. basically says here are the rules of what you'll be compensated with, how your retirement will work, how your health care will work. even when or not you get promoted based on seniority. the governor says this is what you need to be competitive. the unions have pushed in really hard saying this can't be the case. a lot of money, millions and millions of dollars on both sides pushing this issue trying to decide it and as you know, obviously it's a big issue not just for ohio, but for the power of unions in the country as we head into the presidential election. >> which we are seeing fought state by state. >> that's exactly right. and this ballot initiative really is seen as a bellwether for 2012. because ohio always a critical swing state. this election is a test of whether unions can get their troops out, whether the ground game is in place where unions can connect their cause with moderates in the middle class, polls show that this measure is unpopular. what john kasich did modeled largely on what scott walker tried in wisconsin. supporters say it's a necessary reform to rein in budgets. opponents say it ends up undercutting unions. but you have a hard time winning the presidency without winning ohio. and this is the test of the ground game on either side. >> thank so much to both of you. we appreciate it. we're watching it. out front ahead, s.e.a.l. team 6, the force that took out bin laden, a former member of the team comes out front. students rallies a the joe paterno's home supporting him amid growing calls for him to resign. and french president sarkozy said something he didn't mean to. we can't resist. the markets never stop moving. of course, neither do i. solution? 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[ female announcer ] only from aveeno. now a story we can't resist. a private conversation at the g-20 summit between president obama and french president nicolas sarkozy was overheard by a group of journalists when the two leaders didn't realize their mikes were still on. according to the journalist who heard it, the conversation went like this. sarkozy. i cannot bear netanyahu. he's a liar. obama, you're fed up with him, but i have to deal with him even more often than you. okay. the part we can't resist is that they actually thought this conversation would be private. if you are the president of a country, any country, the microphone is always so just because people hope they can, well, hear you saying things like that. don't believe us some here's a look back at some of our favorite political open mike moments. >> i'm pleased to tell you today that legislation that will outlaw russia forever, we begin bombing in five minutes. >> so stick it up your -- >> why would he do that? >> he's a jackass. >> janet has no family. perfect. >> see, barack been talking down to black people [ bleep ]. >> this is a big [ bleep ] deal. >> yes, saw barbara boxer briefly on television this morning and said what everyone says, god, what is that hair? so yesterday. you didn't -- >> yeah, we heard you, carly, we just couldn't resist. still out front -- the out front five. >> this is not a case about football. >> penn state's sex scandal. >> it's a