i'm erin burnett. "outfront" 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 the 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 kraushaar, 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. niger ennis is an 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 bloodshot where you say, herman, have you put everything on the table? 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 imagery 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 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 to 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 hunger for a 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. bialek, the assassins 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 hypersexualized 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 hypocrisy and double standard for conservatives, vis-a-vis bill clinton, who had a variety of 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 >> your viewers do though. >> 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 allred, and i know gloria, i like gloria personally, but she's the poster -- >> do you? >> i like personally. 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 didn't tell him they 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 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, i'm going 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 sexual 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. >> you better believe it. >> 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 sylvio berlusconi, a journalist who has followed the story comes "outfront," 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 french president sarkozy really think about other world leaders? 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[ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go see your doctor now. interesting interview with the adviser to herman cain. let's bring in president of the conservative group concerned women for america and jamal simmons. penny, what did you think of what nyjer had to say? >> 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 nyjer. 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 age 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 via the 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 mistake, 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. stla split decision in bat ground ohio, a presidential race coming up, always watching that state very closely. let's start with where the democrats won tonight, the unions came out in force against a new law by the governor up there the republican governor that limits collective bargaining rights for government workers as unions up there, they spent a lot of money and a lot of effort and they produced a resounding no which will overturn the governor's vote, we are projecting a big win for the democrats up there. but at the same time, something republicans may be celebrating, there was a health care vote. this is largely symbolic, we don't think this can actually change anything, but ohio voters, the same ones who approved this other measure, also said that they want to opt-out of the health care reform plan approved by the obama administration. so, republicans are looking at this and saying, ohio can be with us. democrats are looking at the other one and saying maybe ohio can be with us. it really is a split decision in a state that is so important as we move closer to the presidential vote. some of the other things that we projected clear winners on, kentucky, steve beshear won re-election as the governor, pretty handily, as we can tell. another encouraging sign for democrats but the truth is a lot of races all over the country now the simple fact this gentleman won where he did may be an encourage n one place but an awful loft races, an awful loft initiatives looked at tonight in different places. all night long, people will be chopping up the numbers fry trying figure out whether democrats had an advantage, republican also an advantage or if it all fell somewhere in the middle. >> thanks, tom. as you've said, one of the early indications we have is a split decision in ohio but this is a ballot initiative with national implications for 2012. the union-backed forces have succeeded in rolling back john kasich's signature to reform collective bargaining by a decisive margin, 65% of voters turning out to overturn that republican-led piece of legislation. but crucially, on the other hand, a similar margin of ohioans also voting to give who hot power to opt-out of president obama's signature health care reform. so this is a very much a split decision. but let's take a look at the amount of money and effort piled into this. union forces spent over $30 million in an attempt to repeal this republican-led legislation to reform collective bargaining. comparatively, only $10 million was spent on the opposite side. this really show in today's old environment, tip o'neil's axiom, all politics is local has been turned on its head, all local politics is now national. kentucky, democratic incumbent steve beshear reelected. people don't think of kentucky, home of mitch mcconnell and rand paul, have a democratic governor, overwhelming victory for steve beshear. the big open question is mississippi, the personhood amendment. we are still waiting for final numbers to come in looks likely that the republican lieutenant governor will succeed the incumbent, haley barbour, but the big question that personhood amendment with national implications here. if it were to pass, this provision would set up a challenge to the supreme court, bringing roe v. wade up to question. the second thing it would create at least the possibility of an immediate ban on all abortionses in the state of mississippi with implications as far reaching for birth control for the morning after pill and ivf. significant at stake. back to you you erin. >> thanks, john. 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 at 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. 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