i'm erin burnett, "outfront" tonight. the group of 12 taxed with axing $1.2 trillion from america's deficit. last night, we brought you what was frankly a breakthrough. the architect of the plan told us he would support an increase on tax revenues on some of the wealthiest americans. today the top democrat said toomey's plan didn't go far enough. >> we came to the table to begin with and every day have said that for us it's extremely important. this -- whatever we end up with at the end of the day is balanced and fair and has real revenue on the table. >> we still haven't seen from the democrats is a plan that deals with our structural debt crisis that actually solves the problem. >> this bickering is pretty sad because $1.2 trillion is not very much and it means this issue is going to come back really soon again. so can the super committee step it up? tonight, we go to the front lines with our strike team. that's the group of 20 enstraw praer ins, ceos and investors that i picked to advise us on the economy. they were the first to call on this show we would not fall back into recession when conventional wisdom across the country this fall that a double-dip was in full swing. the strike team was right. david roberts is the ceo of the carlisle companies, a manufacturing company with more than 7,000 employees in 30 states across the country. dave, good to see you again. i wanted just to ask you, as a ceo who is considering hiring, which i know you are, whether the super committee is important to you. >> i think long term it is, erin. i think initially if they don't reach agreement in 13 days, it's not going to have a dramatic impact on what happens on our business. i think long term it will. i think what we'll see immediately is a downgrade of the -- of the u.s. credit rating. and you downgrade the credit rating, obviously, a number things start to happen. for instance, borrowing gets more expensive. i think more importantly is the value of the dollar drops, making it more difficult for us to buy commodities at a price that's reasonable. we'll end up raising prices because our raw materials will go up which will frankly just cause people or consumers to be spending more money for what they're buying. >> which is important. this downgrade issue is an important one. so when you think about hiring, what is holding you back right now? when you look at what we just heard, which is two member the super committee, well, sort of complaining about the other ones. >> well, i think folks are still very cautious out there. i mean, other ceos i talked to or i think everyone is still concerned about the future. we're looking at very short -- or small growth. probably 2% to 3% next year, gdp growth. frankly, that's not enough to continue to go out and hire people. i think there's one element that the media's forgotten in this, is that, you know -- i look at our sales this year, it's up 25%. half of that is acquired growth. the other half is organic growth. but half of that is actually price increase. so we need volume in manufacturing to go out and hire people. our volumes are actually lower today than they were in 2008, and till volumes come back and the consumer continues to buy at rates greater than they are today, we're not going to have a need for people. technical people are different. we've always needed engineers and we will continue to look for engineers. but in our factories, till we get volume back, we're not going to have to hire people. >> dave, thank you very much, and good to see you again. >> all right, you're welcome, thanks, erin. >> thanks to both of you. we appreciate it. peter, do you think the super committee understands what really is at stake? when someone like dave roberts lays out, we can get a downgrade, i would have to raise prices more for regular americans try to buy what i make? >> i think the s&p downgrade of the u.s. credit rating from aaa was a slap in the face and bluntly it was an utter embarrassment for this country. i hope from a market perspective and a d.c. perspective that it did create a sense of urgency. that they know that everyone is now watching them. time is up. and it's time to bring results to satisfy the rating agencies, to satisfy the bond market, and to satisfy corporate ceos that have been paralyzed by what's going on in washington. >> do they get it? >> they better. if they don't get it now, they're not going to get it. look, the clock's ticking. 13 days, as you said. they have the pressure to do that. another number two, 9%, the historic low approval rating for congress so they better get it right now. the thing is, they can't seem to get it together. are they going to go just across the mark or go big to 4? >> first, this whole issue of 1.2, can you put this in context? because in this country we throw around $100 billion, $200 billion, as if it's nothing. but $1.2 trillion really isn't very much, is it? >> it's nonsense. we have a $15 trillion nominal gdp economy. it's less than 1%. per -- if you take the 1.2 over ten years, $120 billion versus a $15 trillion economy. the unfunded liabilities of this country is $50 trillion to $100 trillion worth of -- >> all the debt we have -- >> exactly. so it's a waste of time. the markets know that. while it's very important to washington and maybe it will satisfy the rating agencies, the markets know that unless you face medicare, medicaid and social security, this is just a waste of time. >> you go big, $5 trillion-plus. >> the market's going to force washington to go big, at some point over the next couple of years. >> and being forced is going to be bad. >> forced will be bad. automatic cut will be terrible as well, politically and practically. the good news, a gang of 140 members of congress encouraging the super committee to go big, to that $4 trillion number. the fact that toomey was willing to accept revenue increases from the former president of the club for growth, that's a big deal. >> point blank, does that mean the wealthiest americans will end up paying more in the new world than in the old world, yes, that's what he said. >> even though he's proposing a rate cut for the top, that is a step in the right direction. that's the kind of spirit you're going to need, with real purpose behind it. >> downgrade, how quickly would it come, do you think? >> within days if there's no deal after the cutoff in november. >> thanks very much to both of you. >> thank you. >> hopefully they're watching, hopefully they will step up and be super heroes. still "outfront," the state department announces they're looking for a plan for an oil pipeline running from alberta, canada, to texas. we'll talk about what really went down there. this is important. and mitt romney stacks up well with president obama but cain is the one raising all the cold, hard cash. that is the fact still. and wilson ramos was kidnapped last night in venezuela. who took him and why? some folks call me a rock star, some call me the mayor... and i love it. and, i make everybody happy. i keep my business insurance with the hartford because... they came through for me once, and i know they've got my back. for whatever challenges come your way... the hartford is here to back you up. helping you move ahead... with confidence. meet some of our small business customers at: thehartford.com/business i don't think about the unknown... i just rock n' roll. 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 ♪ we're centurylink... a new kind of broadband company committed to providing honest, personal service from real people... 5-year price-lock guarantees... consistently fast speeds... and more ways to customize your technology. ♪ the number tonight, 826,000. that is how many country music albums have been sold in new york city year to date. making it the number one place in the nation for country music sales according to nielsen. the data is a little misleading. country music is popular here but maybe not as much as you think because new york city does not have a country music station. that bothers me all the time. it has more to do with the city's large population. the truth is only accounted for 5% of the music sale. you got to go 50 miles before you get a really great country station. it's a problem. major decision today at the crossroads of energy and the environment. state department announced it's going to study the route of a planned pipeline running from canada to the texas gulf coast. it's called the keystone xl oil pipeline and it would have crossed a critical aqua fewer over nebraska. environment groups did not like that. the people that liked it say it will cost jobs. today john boehner said it would cost 20,000 jobs to not have it be built as planned. cnn's foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty. this is a big foreign affairs issue because you're talking about perhaps the biggest oil reserves in the world in canada going through the u.s. and down to the gulf coast. >> yeah, and, you know, the argument for it really would be, look if we can get oil from canada or from other parts, let's say mexico, this could make a big difference. you could basically kiss the middle east good-bye. and so -- and the jobs argument certainly is big too. but environmental groups are really furious about this. and now the president puts off this decision, which technically will be made by secretary of state hillary clinton because it's an international borders issue, it puts it off till 2013. if that rings a bell, that is because it's after the election. so there's quite a political context, although the white house would say this is not a political decision. >> interesting. and what's your take on it? i mean, it is -- it does seem rather interesting, the time line where they're going to make the decision. >> it does, but i think it's really a very, very difficult decision to make because the people who really hate the pipeline and really want to kill it are the president's liberal supporter, people who support the environment groups. it's a very big, very successful media operation. last week, you had thousands of people circling the white house against it. but you also have big oil and you also have people who support jobs, who are saying, look, you could get 20,000 jobs online almost immediately or at least in the beginning of next year, and that is crucial too. so it's not a decision that would be easy for the president to make either way. >> kick the can down the road i guess. jill dougherty, thank you. now, let's talk about the politics of that and some other amazing political thins happening today like cain's money machine. paul begala joins us, political contributor here, senior political analyst david gergen and political analyst david fromme. the decision like this gets put off till after the election. >> there may be reasons substance, like they need further study, but nobody in washington believes this. it looks political. the president had to choose between the environmental bloc who didn't want this, he wants their votes, and labor unions, you know, who want the jobs. it's more than just american politics. i've been up there in canada a couple of times in the last 6 or 8 weeks. this is really important to u.s./canadian relations. what they're telling me there, business community's saying we thought you were going to do this. we started investing. we made reliance on you doing this. by you putting it off, let's just make clear to you as americans, we've always seen you as our partner for oil and gas. we intended to sell you our oil and gas. if you're going to screw around with us, we've got an alternati alternative, we're going to sell it to china. >> they sure can do that, right? ship right into vancouver and take it away. paul begala, what's your take on this? and then i want to bring you in, david, on cain. >> kicking the can has a long tradition for american presidents. >> for both parties. >> abraham lincoln, a republican, delayed announcing the emancipation proclamation till his union generals gave him some battlefield victories. this is a big deal. but it's hardly emancipation proclamation. the aquifer which goes from west texas to wyoming, right through the heart of it, the republican governor of nebraska, which -- under which sits a huge part of that aquifer, he opposes this. it's a very difficult environmental, economic, international relations and political decision. so i'd rather they get it right than get it right away. >> obviously some of the western governors, republicans, do tend to be much more pro environment than you might expect on party lines. >> it's about water. cool, clear water. like that old country song. i'm glad to hear you're a country fan. >> it's lucky you couldn't see david's face when you made the comment about the emancipation proclamation. >> he took it back, to paul's credit. >> i want to get you in on this issue of herman cain. so the whole situation continues and yet $9 billion in the past ten days. it is phenomenal in terms of fund-raising. will it last in terms of polls? >> well, herman cain is not going to be the republican nominee and he's not even going to be the republican front run are for very much longer. but he is a real phenomenon and he -- rick perry in a way cemented that last night by taking away the last other plausible place tea party supporters could go. if you want not mitt, you're sort of stuck with cain for as long as that balloon takes to deflate. he's going to raise a lot of money off the perception of victimhood which is unfortunate because he's now running for the victim in chief spot that was recently vacated by sarah palin. >> david gergen, what is your take on this? also, what's your take on rick perry? who, okay, he stumbled last night. it was stomach churning. i felt badly for him. it was just a human moment. but then he went and did the morning shows this morning. tried to make a joke of it. tried to make light. not enough. >> my feeling is mitt romney's one of the luckiest guys around to run against this field. he's had two guys who basically sort of almost imploded in front of him. we'll have to wait and see. i think david fromme is right that cain will stay in. what was interesting, the quinnipiac polls that came out, battleground states, romney runs much better than cain in pennsylvania and ohio against the president. they're neck and neck against the president. against cain, obama's ahead by ten points in each state. republicans are going to pay attention to things like that. >> paul, what's going to happen? let's just assume there's a scenario sort of like the way things are now, economy, still pretty terrible. but you get job growth every month. that's tepid. the unemployment rate stays where it is or just ticks down a little. in that scenario, does obama end up winning? >> right, that's the million dollar question. every time i look at the economy, i think obama can't win. every time i look at the republicans, i think he can't lose. and so one of those two is going to have to give. it's anybody's guess, erin. no one has ever even tried to run for re-election with unemployment this high since fdr and he was a special case and it was 70 years ago. it's really an extraordinary time for this president. as lucky as romney is, i think gergen's right, i think obama's feeling fortunate too to have a comparatively weak field in the republican party. >> what would you do right now if the election was today, what's your bet? >> my bet is obama would win the squeaker. i think it's a pretty even field. i think as time goes on the powers of the incumbency, as they both know from their experience, are very, very important in a race like this. and beyond that, the electoral college, it works, in the president's favor. does that mean he can lose it? yes, he can absolutely lose it. mitt romney will be a better campaigner as time goes on. he showed a little humor last night. we hadn't seen that before. if he starts to connect emotionally, he's going to be a much stronger candidate. >> i don't know if we have video of him. david fromme, you know what else he had last night, he had kind of mussy hair. he didn't look perfect. which i thought was maybe on purpose, it was a good thing. >> he looked like a working class hero from a 1930s movie with the fantastic jawline. kind of disheveled hair. >> the trench coat. >> my guess is that was focus grouped. >> i mean, it did look like it had some hair gel in it that got it where it was. thanks to all three of you. really appreciate you taking the time, as always. we'll keep watching your hair, mitt. still "outfront." joe paterno out as head coach. the president now out as well. we talk about what it means for the football program at the school, the state, and we're going to talk to a man who played professional hockey, was abused by his coach more than 300 times. he'll talk about why he finally came out, why it took him so long. a day after the earthquake in turkey, 25 people have been rescued. and there is something funny going on at the national toy hall of fame. stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth! two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. luck? i don't trade on luck. i trade on fundamentals. analysis. information. i trade on tradearchitect. this is web-based trading, re-visualized. streaming, real-time quotes. earnings analysis. probability analysis: that's what opportunity looks like. it's all visual. intuitive. and it's available free, wherever the web is. this is how trade strategies are built. tradearchitect. only from td ameritrade. welcome to better trade commission free for 60 days when you open an account. so, we cover a lot of serious stories on this show but this one is more seriously. the national toy hall of fame is located in rochester, new york. they induct classic toys from a list of 12 finalists. this year, here's what happened. at the ceremony, they inducted three toys into the hall of fame. hot wheels. totally aproblpropriate. the doll house. and the blanket. the blanket is an odd choice, right, because it's not a toy. at least i don't know in the traditional sense of the word. so we looked to see which toys it beat out to be enshrined on this specialist. dungeons and dragons got passed over. jenga. puppets. we noticed something disturbing. the blanket was not even on the list of the finalists. it was a total cheater. seriously, toy hall of fame, you thought you could sneak a rogue toy? maybe it's because it's a blanket but we smell cover-up. this isn't the first time the toy hall of fame has tried this. they actually did the same thing with the cardboard box in '05 and the stick in '08. so look our show is not anti-blanket and certainly not anti-toy. but we're not saying blanket shouldn't be included in the hassle fame. actually, yeah, i am, it shouldn't be. we just think it should be voted fairly. seriously. >> still "outfront, "the "outfront" 5. the next to fall? >> he see