acknowledge he was twice accused of inappropriate behavior as head of the international restaurant association. >> i was accused of sexual harassment, falsely accused i might add. i was falsely accused of sexual harassment, and when the charges were brought, as the leader of the organization, i recused myself and allowed my general counsel and my human resource officer to deal with the situation. and it was concluded after a thorough investigation that it had no basis. >> the restaurant association tonight says it won't and can't comment on personnel issues from 15 years ago. cain in his trademark outspoken style asserts in this lunchtime conversation he had no idea about the organization paid two women to settle their complaints. >> i hope it wasn't for much because i didn't do anything. but the fact of the matter is, i'm not aware of a settlement that came out of that accusation. >> what you heard there is very, very important. right there you heard mr. cain say he was not aware of any settlement. well, here is where tonight it gets puzzling. now the washington examiner quotes a taped interview to air later on the fox news channel in which cain not only says he was aware of the settlements, he was aware of the settlements, he goes on to talk about them in considerable detail, saying he discussed the payments to one woman with the general counsel of the restaurant association. rain recalls the woman initially wanted a giant sum of money but then settled for two or three months' salary t. same herman cain said repeatedly earlier in the day he knew nothing about any settlements. after saying for more than a day he couldn't respond to the allegations, he says he's recalling one of the encounters with a woman cain describes as in her late 30s or 40s that led to one of the sexual harassment complaints. his shifting explanations tonight down right bizarre. the timing couldn't be worse for cain. the businessman has catapulted from nowhere to the top of the republican battle and leading in south carolina. >> as a result of today's big news story, i really know what it feels like to be number one. >> the politico news organization reported the two female employees of the restaurant association complained to colleagues and supervisors about sexually suggestive behavior by mr. cain they found unwelcome, unprofessional and inappropriate. in one of the cases the woman complained of an unwanted sexual advance by cain at a hotel where the restaurant group was holding an event. at today's press club event mr. cain took an indignant tone. >> per the article, two anonymous sources claiming sexual harassment, we're not going to chase anonymous sources when there's no basis for the accusation. >> maggie haber man is one of the politico reporters who broke the story. she's with us from new york. i want to get into as much detail as we can because of the sensitive nature of the allegations. mr. cain says these are anonymous sources and he can't respond. in your article you say his campaign staff was given the name of one woman who complained last week, and it was repeated to cain on sunday. he responded, quote, i am not going to comment on that. at least in one of the cases this is not at all anonymous. >> the name was provided to mr. cain on sunday outside a tv show, also asked him directly if he had ever been accused with sexual harassment. mr. cain's response was have you ever been accused of sexual harassment. they did have opportunities to address this. >> you say in one case you looked at the documentation. was it a he said she said or was there corroboration, were there crop rating witnesses. >> we saw documentation involving some of the allegations and settlement from the ira which involved a five-figure payout to two separate women in this one case specifically. i think what i can safely say is these women felt very, very distraught about what happened. they were unhappy about what had happened and there is also language in these agreements separating them from the national restaurant association barring them from discussing specifics. >> i want to read something from the article. the women complained of sexually suggestive behavior by cain that made them angry and uncomfortable the sources said. the sources which include the recollections of close associates describe things that left the women offended. in one case at a restaurant association event, separate incidents. do you know how far apart they were? >> again, i'm going to stick to what we reported in the article. he was the chairman of the board of the nra between '96 and '99. so we're talking about a three-year tenure. >> he says he has absolutely no knowledge of these settlements. is that possible? anything to lead you to believe you would know? >> without going into specifics, i think it's unusual that there would be a settlement that someone doesn't know, whether it's within the realm of possibility i suppose it is. again, mr. cain has gone from saying that he didn't -- wasn't aware of the allegations or the story itself was untrue to acknowledging that there were allegations made. >> is there anything in your reporting that would suggest this had anything to do with him leaving the restaurant association? >> he left the restaurant association somewhat abruptly. it surprised some people. but as of now, i think i'm just going to let it stand as we said. he went on to other endeavors. he had been looking at run forth president that year and he had a lot of other things he was looking forward to. >> as you know, the timing has many people asking why now. mr. cain himself thinks he's being targeted because he's gone from nowhere to the top of the polls. listen to him at the press club. >> i told you the bull's eye on my back has gotten bigger. i have no idea -- we have no idea the source of this witch hunt, which is really what it is. we have no idea. we've been busy trying to get my message out. >> he says witch hunt there. as you know, some of his aides have said the liberal media going after a leading conservative. we've been in the business a long time. i'm not going to ask you anything at all about your sources and i never would. when you hear him say witch hunt, others saying it's the media going after a conservative, how would you answer that? >> i think we reported the story thoroughly. it's tightly done and well supported and researched story. i think that any candidate running for national office goes through a vetting process that many candidates have complained of including a large number of candidates who opted not to run because this is -- the hot light under which all candidates run nationally. this is very different than mr. cain's past campaign in 2004 he ran for senate in georgia. he did not become the nominee. i think it's very, very different when you're in apartmental race and when you're running closely. >> maggie haber man of politico, excellent reporting today. thanks for your time. >> thank you. for a more personal perspective, joined by herman cain's former executive sis t t assistant. were you aware of these accusations? >> no. >> he never mentioned them or nobody ever brought them to your attention? >> not that i recall. >> so when you see the headline and you see the news reports and a man you worked closely with for seven years is accused of sexually suggestive language, other inappropriate comment, one woman suggesting he made an unwanted sexual advance at her, anything that in your presence would suggest he's capable of that? >> no, absolutely not. >> he jokes and says it's time to let herman be herman. he tries to have a sense of humor, some of the things he thinks are funny maybe voters won't find so funny. maybe that's part of his interesting personal characteristics. any situations where maybe herman being herman or mr. cain being brash, being blunt might have rubbed somebody the wrong way? >> absolutely not. he was brash, he wasn't even blunt. i think some of the bluntness has come with doing the radio show which i think he kind of had to cultivate in order to be a good radio talk show host. he was never controversial. he was never argumentative. he was never anything other than charming, pleasant, interesting, so on and so forth. >> and today he acknowledged these two accusations, and he said he recused himself and turned it over to the hr department and general counsel and he was not aware of any settlements. we know two settlements have been made. you don't recall any conversations where he said, wow, sib by, these women, they're investigating these things and i can't believe it? >> no. you know, i think it's possible that i remember some talk about it, but i think if there was, it was actually before i ever worked for him. so it was never a topic of conversation when i worked for him. it may have come up at one point. i may have heard it somewhere. >> when he traveled to the events on behalf of the restaurant association, did you travel with him at all? >> just one time i went to an national restaurant association event in chicago and my recollection is that we handled a book signing that he did during that restaurant association show. but that was the only one. >> there are women all around the country, men all around the country, too, but i'm assuming more so women who are hearing this today and saying is this possible? this is someone who has gone from nowhere to the top of the presidential pack. i want to give you a moment too talk about how did herman cain interact with you when you're dealing with crises or big projects with deadlines. how did he behave around you in terms of how he carried himself. when he was frustrated, did he have a temper, things like that? >> he kind of makes it his own personal message to bring positivity where there's negativity. he's charismatic. he's funny. he's fun to be around. certainly when we're doing business, we're dealing with the business at hand, but in a way that is just a pleasure, even during the times where there were deadlines and where because of deadlines it was stressful. >> you worked at his side for seven years and you mentioned some of those situations are stressful or at least hectic and busy. was there ever once in that seven years where you said herman, that's not appropriate language, herman i don't like your tone, herman, you crossed the line? >> absolutely never. >> never. >> never. >> do you keep in stuff with him? >> i do. >> when was the last time you talked to him? >> i think the last time i actually talked to herman on the telephone was probably -- i don't think it's been a year, but it's definitely been longer than six months. >> what are your politics, are you a cain for president supporter, republican, democrat, independent? >> i'm registered. i'm usually reg sterd as a democrat. i have voted for republicans in the past. there are many, many things about herman's political beliefs that i am 100% with, some not as much with. and i think if i were to have to vote today, i would vote for herman. >> and you say you agree with some of his positions, not with others. i want to close this by asking you a character question, a character question. when you look at this man whose character now has been called into question, you would say? >> i would say he is a man of character, and that i just don't believe anybody who would question that. >> sib by wolfson, worked at herman cain's side for seven years. thank you for your perspective tonight. >> you're welcome. when we come back, more on the breaking news. at lunchtime today herman cain said he was aware of no settlements from the organization he once worked at. not only does he say he was aware of one of the settlements, he talks about it in great detail. a conflicting recount. what does that say about cain's crisis management? 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[ female announcer ] the travelocity guarantee. if your booking's not right, we'll help make it right, right away. from the price to the room to the trip you'll never roam alone. herman cain is learning a lesson many others all know too well. how a candidate and how a campaign handle a major challenge is a leadership test. presidents after all have to do a fair share of crisis management. let's walk through the evolution of cain's answers when asked about allegations of sexual harassment. sunday morning. >> i'm strig to -- >> have you? have you, sir? >> that was the last question. thanks. thanks. >> have you ever been accused of sexual harassment? >> have a nice day. >> hard to hear, but notice he did not answer yes or no to the question of whether he had ever been accused of harassment. then this morning -- >> did you engage in unwanted sexual advances toward members of the restaurant association? did you ever engage in innuendo with any members of the restaurant association? >> no. >> a few minutes later, though, he was seated and ready for an interview on fox news and he did tell a much more complete account. he said he had been accused. he said they were baseless accusations burks he did recall two accusations. now we're getting even more information. mr. cain said in a lunchtime speech at the national press club he knew nothing of any settlements by the national restaurant association tonight in a taped interview that will air on fox news, he not only says he was aware of the settlements but discusses at least one in considerable detail. is this response helping or hurting. let's ask three vet vance of crisis management in politics frchlt phoenix democratic strategist and adviser to bill clinton paul mcgalla. eric den zen hall, cnn's political analyst gloria borger. eric, you help people when they're dealing with issues like this. yesterday he wouldn't say yes or no to the accusations, had you ever been accused. in a way i almost understand if it had been new. politico asked for ten days trying to get a response. he still won't say, yes, there are allegations, he waits until he sits down for fox news. at the press club he says he's not aware of any settlements. and today he's not only describing the settlements. he says she wanted a big sum, we got her down to two or three months' pay. >> here is the deal, these are very easy allegations to make. as a cost of doing business, people often pay them off. it doesn't mean you're guilty. but what works in business doesn't always work in politician. the couple of variables you have to look at in something like this, number one, are there optics, are there people diving in front of cameras to make it more sexy. number two, does the story become too interesting by virtue of changes. as a general rule, contrary to what people say about these situations that the more you tell the better it is? no. the real rum is the simpler it is. when you start getting into complexities and changing stories, that extends the half life. >> he's not getting into complexities. he's just changing his story. that's his problem, particularly when you're running a presidential campaign. he didn't know of a settlement. he knew of a settlement. >> i agree. >> tonight on pbs he says he was aware of a settlement. this is a presidential candidate. people cannot think you're lying to them and he could clear it up, by the way, by telling the national restaurant association that he waves his confidentiality and let them release any documents. >> they may not be able to do that if the two women involved are also parties to it. paul bugala, i won't get into the details. you've been through rodeos somewhat like this. i'll leave it at that right now. this morning he says -- yesterday and this morning talking about reckless anonymous allegations. then here is what he tells fox news tonight, quoting the washington examiner, i can't even remember her name. i do remember the formal allegation she made in terms of sexual harassment. i turned it over to the general counsel, the woman in charge of human resources. they did investigate and it was found to be baseless. can your story continue to evolve -- suppose he's telling the truth. suppose these are baseless accusations and they were investigated and as eric says t price of doing business, they decided to pay a settlement to get rid of it, why not say that yesterday and end this? >> first off, good for you for pointing out, this is still america innocent until proven guilty. i'm a democrat, mr. cain is republican. this is beyond that. they're old allegations. the problem in the campaign is it's a new story for us. a really old story for mr. cain. it was at least ten, 12 years ago. it is hard. he should have had his story ready. he should have been ready. he's not a veteran politician. and maybe that's why he's kind of bouncing around here. >> so some of this is basic common sense though. >> some of it is. one of the things to keep in mind is when you are the subject of a crisis, you are ten steps behind everybody else. a human being in crisis is not acting with machiavellian rationalism. a human being in crisis is very shaken up. he's been thrown into this situation. as a general rule in terms of what he does going forward, truman capote once said a party is not thrown for someone, it's thrown against someone. the best thing to do in a situation is to say, you know what goes on in business, we don't build companies, we spend time dealing with allegations like this. >> that's what your staff is there. the person in crisis may be ten steps behind, but the people who run your campaign should be ten steps ahead and should be leading you and debriefing you and saying to you, tell us everything and then we'll figure out how to tell it to the rest of the world. >> if it were even a reasonably efficient campaign, paul, they would have already known about this, right? they would have sat down with the candidate with a bunch of people in the room including lawyers, what have you ever done? who will say you did something even if you never did it, right? >> and that's what they should have done. it is -- look, we talked about this last week. instead of being in iowa or new hampshire, mr. cain was at a dog track in la mark, texas, completely unconventional campaign. great charm in that. here is great peril. they didn't have their act together, he should have known this was coming. it always does. you remember george w. bush like 20 years before he ran for president was convicted of drunk driving in maine. he never told. when it came out three days before the election, it did real damage. if he put that out in the beginning of the campaign, he could have weathered that storm much more nicely. >> i don't want to go back to the bush dwi. here is what i don't understand. here is a guy who has tripped over a few things in this campaign, abortion language he tried to clean up. he's said a few other things he's tried to clean up. yet you have to assume he knows about this, gives a lunchtime speech and says i'm not aware of any settlements. there was no vagueness in the language. thi