in it a poll this afternoon, he now leads in key swing and must win florida. cain beating romney there, 34-28. this comes on the heels of a national poll yesterday which put cain in the lead. now, cnn's polls of polls show that cain is still behind romney. just in that margin of error there, 23-20. whatever the case, it is no question that herman cain's popularity is surging. the national poll has you at number one. now the poll has you leading in south carolina and florida. what's your family thinking, and why do you think this happened, that you've surged to the top? >> well, my family, they are not surprised. because they know me from my business career. because i've always done some challenging things. but i believe this happened for two reasons. and it was first evidence with that florida straw poll. first, it demonstrates that the voice of the people is more important than the voice of the media, with all due respect. because for a while, as you know, some people in the media tried to paint this as a two-man governor-on-governor race. the second key message is, message is more powerful than money. i have not spent, nor have i been able to raise the kind of money that my major competitors have. but yet we have been competitive because of the strength of my message, and the specificity of the solution that i put on table. >> so let's talk about 9-9-9. obviously -- >> all right. >> i know, you're ready for this one. okay. so i have a strike team on this show, sir, where we have 20 ceos, entrepreneurs and investors and they're voting on all sorts of things about the economy, but voted on which candidate would be best for the economy just yesterday. they had some blackberry issues, so we didn't get full votes, but close to it 15. 12 said mitt romney, 2 said jon huntsman, 1 said rick perry, none voted for you. and then i asked about the 9-9-9 plan. nine said it was a gimmick, six said your plan was serious. 9-9-9 is a goal, right? you're not just going to wake up to it -- how long does it take in your vision to have 9-9-9 in full effect? >> the first 90 days in my administration as president of the united states of america, because this country is on life support. it can't wait. let me address those who thought it was a gimmick and let me explain quickly how we came up with this. this economy is on life support. we took five revenue sources currently being collected through taxes that cost us $430 billion a year collectively for filing and compliance. so we looked at corporate income taxes, personal income taxes, capital gains taxes, payroll taxes and the death tax. then we said, we want a structure where we can expand the base. the only way to expand the base was to bring in retail sales. and what is the lowest rate that would be simple, fair, efficient, transparent and revenue-neutral? this is how we came up with the 9% rate on corporate tax, a flat rate, personal income tax, a flat rate, and a 9% retail sales tax. so we derived this by using existing revenue numbers. so it is not a gimmick. and we have also had it scored, and it will boost this economy and create 6 million new jobs. >> and i know you're going to be coming out with that scoring report soon, right? can you tell us when? >> yes. we've already had the scoring done. we are just trying to clean it up such that when we present it to the public it won't raise a lot of questions. so we'll have that done within the next week. and we'll make it available. >> all right. so let me ask you this. we just talked about the poll that came out this afternoon where you're leading in florida with a significant margin over governor romney, and by just a point. so within the margin of error. but still in an early voting state, south carolina. so i just took a few of the early states, new hampshire, iowa, south carolina, florida. if you look at the current sales tax in those states, new hampshire is at zero. the others primarily at 6%. so voters in those states watching tonight see that, and let's look at new hampshire. they go, i'm paying zero now. even though mr. cain gives me a cut on my payroll tax, i'm getting a 9% sales tax and a 9% income tax rate. a lot of people say that will result in an increase at the bottom income level of the people of this country. >> here's how i respond. this is something new to the public to say you're going to pay a sales tax of 9%. but at least you know what it is. the problem with our current system is that there are embedded taxes and sneak taxes in the current tax code. >> all right. so the fundamental question of regressivety, that a sales tax that applies to clothes and to food as i believe yours would, hits the people who spend the majority on cloebts and food. that being the poorest people in america. >> it's not regressive. take an actual example. the reason people say it's regressive is because that's the way they think, relative to the current paradigm, and the current tax code. if i can, very quickly, let's take a median income family of $50,000 a year. if you want to use $25,000 a year, just cut these numbers in half. a family making $50,000 a year, which is around median income, under the current system, they're going to pay $10,200 in taxes under the 9-9-9 plan, they're going to pay $4500 for that middle nine. and that leaves them $5,700 to play to sales taxes that they would pay on that third nine, on food, and shelter and then if they buy goods, no taxes on used goods. so the actual purchase behavior, we can't predict. but it is not regressive. in fact, it empowers those that make the least amount of money because you don't pay the sales tax on used goods. all right, so the payroll tax that you would get rid of, fund social security now, if you got rid of it, are you getting rid of social security? what's your goal for social security? >> no, we're just collecting the social security taka dollars a different way. social security, i have another solution for that. it's called an optional personal retirement account. so we are still going to collect the revenue for those programs. but then we're going to solve that problem totally different, because that's a totally different problem that we need to work on. >> all right. so individual retirement accounts. let me ask you this. you've been given what some say is a tough love, others say is insensitive message to the unemployed, telling them don't blame banks, blame yourselves. what is the message here? >> first of all, the message was directed at the people demonstrating on wall street. it wasn't directed at the 14 million people that are unemployed. or the millions of people that are underemployed. one of the reasons i'm fighting so hard for this 9-9-9 plan, i want to put people back to work. and according to the scoring from my 9-9-9 plan, this economy would grow at approximately a 5% rate, and will create 6 million new jobs. i'm out here fighting for the unemployed. but what i'm saying is, those people that are protesting wall street, i don't feel any sympathy for you. because wall street did not create these bad economic policies. this administration did. this administration spent $1 trillion, and it didn't work. this administration wants to spend another $450 billion, and it will not work. so my comment was directed at the wall street demonstrators. what are they looking for? another entitlement program? well, i can tell you, in a cain administration, that will not be a new entitlement program. our programs will all be designed to empower people to help themselves. that was the intent of my message. >> do you believe, sir, that the bailout of the banks was successful? >> i believe that the bailout of the banks was partially successful. what i didn't like about the bailout is that it was administered in a discretionary fashion. those dollars were never intended to bail out a car company. it wasn't intended. the american people weren't told that the administration was going to pick and choose who the winners and the losers were going to be. that was the problem i had with the problem, even though some banks may have benefited. government's role is not to pick winners and losers. that was the biggest problem i had with the whole bailout program. >> all right. out front next. what does herman cain think of china? >> we won't have to look back at china. we will leave them in the dust. >> and then michael jackson's death trial. doctors and sleep experts say his care was beyond comprehension today in court. and we talked to steve mann, a comedian makes it his life work to perform on "letterman." ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! 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[ male announcer ] we're not employers or employees. not white collar or blue collar or no collars. we are business in america. and every day we awake to the same challenges. but at prudential we're helping companies everywhere find new solutions to manage risk, capital and employee benefits, so american business can get on with business. ♪ the number tonight, 28. that's roughly how many employees google added every day during the third quarter. worldwide, that was 2,585 workers, internet search giant reported a property of $2.7 billion earlier today. good to see someone hiring, but obviously doesn't put a dent in the 14 million unemployed in this country. herman cain is rising in the polls and the 9-9-9 plan obviously getting pretty much all of the attention. but if he's going to win, he cannot just run on a tax plan. let me ask you about a social question that links into the unemployment. bob johnson was on cnn this morning, obviously the founder of b.e.t. and he was talking about african-american unemployment which is nearly twice as high as the rest of the country. and he has a plan that he says is going to fix high unemployment among african-americans in america. here he is. >> companies who are seeking to hire vps and above or to issue contracts to businesses would voluntarily, and i stress voluntarily, agree to interview at least two african-american qualified candidates. >> does america still need affirmative action? >> well, let's talk about how i would address that same problem. i believe an empowerment zones. most of the unemployment black persons in this country are in these mostly economically depressed areas. it could be, and i'm only using this as an example, because we haven't finished establishing the parameters yet. instead of in a designated empowerment zone, it being 9-9-9, it could be, as an example only, 3-3-3. what this does, because you have a lot of african-americans located in cities like detroit, disproportionately, it would encourage businesses to stay in business there or to move there. it would encourage people to work there, because if you live in the empowerment zone, you're going to pay a smaller percentage in taxes. >> as an overall concept, though, outside those zones, do you think there is still a place for an ideal like that, that you would make sure you interview two african-american candidates for every higher level position as a form of affirmative action? >> i don't think you need to make it mandated or anything like that. the problem with things to start out voluntary is that you get some overzealous liberal who will say it ought to be required. i served on the board of directors for nearly 20 years of my career. i know that corporations are already voluntarily making sure that they feel fill the pipeline with people from all ethnic groups. >> all right. so no mandatory affirmative action. now you're number one in the polls, it can't be all 9-9-9. spirit airlines launched a campaign today with the -- i know you saw that. you said you didn't actually endorse it. but we know where they got the idea. let's put it that way. >> right. >> but foreign policy matters, too, for the front-runner. two wars, this week's alleged terror plot by iran in the united states. what is the cain doctrine? >> i'm glad you asked. the cain doctrine is an extension of the reagan doctrine. reagan's doctrine was peace through strength. the cain doctrine is peace through strength and clarity. we need to clarify who our friends are, clarify who our enemies are, stop giving money to our enemies and let the world know who our friends are. i happen to believe that this attempted assassination that iran has its fingerprints all over, based upon the reports that we have seen was because this president is perceived as weak. and this president is perceived as not standing with its friends in the world. this is why we want to clarify it. for example, i have been very outspoken about -- under a cain presidency, we will stand with israel. i have said, if you mess with israel, you're messing with the united states of america. secondly, i believe that there are some things that we can do that this administration is not doing in order to show strength instead of weakness. as far as upgrading some of our ballistic missile defense systems we have, which we have a great advantage in the world, i think we ought to make that advantage bigger. >> what is the biggest foreign threat to america? what country or region right now? >> the biggest threat to the united states of america is the unknown. not what we know. but what we don't know. in terms of a specific country, i would have to say, iran and north korea. they're very volatile. and very unpredictable. which gets back to the unknown. and relative to iran, what i would do, we already know that iran is not going to do what we want them to do. so my approach is quite simple. these ballistic missile defense systems that i talked about earlier, i believe we need to invest in upgrading those systems so that they can detect ballistic missiles from launch to impact, and that gives us more time to be able to detect and destroy them, if they fire at our friends like israel, and if they fire at the united states of america. >> modern "star wars?" >> that's not totally modern "star wars." that's enhancing capabilities that we already have. phase two would be to have "star wars" type missile defense capabilities that are located in outer space, which is one of the reasons that i want to relaunch our space program, and get away from this dependent upon russia in order to be able to get into outer space. >> and what about china? i know you've recently visited there. you spoke about it. do you think china is on balance a friend of america or a foe? >> i think they are between being a friend and a foe. they want to keep a relationship with the united states for economic reasons. they want to learn as much as they can from us militarily. here's how i plan to deal with china. outgrow china. once again, we're not going to be able to dictate to china what they do about currency. we're not going to be able to convince them not to develop that nuclear weapons program or their military. let's outgrow china. here's how we do it. when this economy is growing with my 9-9-9 plan, we will be growing at a robust rate, rather than this anemic rate while china is growing at 9, 10, sometimes 11%. once we are growing at that rate on a $14 trillion base, even though they're growing at 10% on a $6 trillion base, we don't have to look back. here's another sweetener in my 9-9-9 plan. i know you'll get tired of me coming back to it, erin, but guess what, there's some sweetness in here. on the first 9% of corporate profits, you are allowed as a corporation to deduct purchases, as long as you purchase those ingredients or components from u.s. companies. so if we are growing at a robust rate and our products are more competitive, we won't have to look back at china. we will leave them in the dust. and still out front, the one question i could not resist asking herman cain. and trust me, this one wasn't easy. yesterday -- >> erin? >> yesterday we spoke -- i've got to get through the question. all right. and the republican response to the failed obama jobs bill. will it be more successful or will the president win out? ♪ and the flowers and the trees ♪ ♪ all laugh when you walk by ♪ and the neighbors' kids run and hide ♪ deep inside you, there's a person who refuses to be kept deep inside you. ♪ but you're not ♪ you're the one be true to yourself. what's healthier than that? fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink [ coughs, sniffles ] especially when you're sick. now, with new simpler packaging, robitussin® makes it simple to get the right relief for your symptoms. new simpler packaging, same effective relief. robitussin®. relief made simple. today i own 165 wendy's restaurants. and i get my financing from ge capital. but i also get stuff that goes way beyond banking. we not only lend people money, we help them save it. 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[ junior ] ...and they've helped build my business. the markets never stop moving. of course, neither do i. solution: td ameritrade mobile. i can enter trades. on the run. even futures and forex. complex options? done. the market shifts... i get an alert. thank you. live streaming audio. advanced charts. look at that. all right here. wherever "here" happens to be. mobile trading from td ameritrade. number one in online equity trades. trade commission-free for 30 days, plus get up to $500 when you open an account. and now a story we can't resist. now, on monday, you may remember, we ran a story about herman cain's rise in the polls. >> herman cain won the florida straw poll and is leading in a number of other states. and yet, a recent "washington post" headline called him the republican flavor of the month. "time" magazine asked, herman cain, flash in the pan or serious candidate. we couldn't resist asking the question. what is it about herman cain that some people seem to not like? that's when we realized, unlike the other candidates, herman cain has a mustache. if elected, mr. cain would be the first president with facial hair since william howard taft. and when we spoke with herman cain today, we couldn't resist asking him about it. the american mustache institute has officially endorsed your campaign. you're up for the robert gu lay memorial award. >> erin -- >> yeah -- yesterday we spoke -- i've got to get through the question. with dr. aaron perlynn, chairman of the american mustache institute. and he had this to say to you, sir. >> we have seen an uptick popularity and that is no doubt from the support of the mustache people. so i would ask him to reach out to the mustache community and also define how his 9-9-9 plan would encompass the $250,000 tax deferral that the american mustache institute has been seeking from the u.s. congress and the irs. >> what do you say? >> let me answer the second question first. no deferrals, no loopholes, no special credits. that's the beauty of the 9-9-9 plan. so i have bad news for them. we're not going to use the o