>> john walsh of "america's most wanted" on the biggest crime headlines and the scandals in college sport. also one of the hottest young comics in the business. why dane cook is getting serious. this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. herman cain's run for the white house is on life support tonight. never a good sign when a candidate says he's reassessing his campaign. but he's still out there tonight making a foreign policy speech in michigan. >> apathy, not being involved, not being informed, not staying inspired is a threat to the future of this great nation. but it's up to us and especially the younger generation to do something about it. >> despite his confident performance tonight, it seems unlikely that candidate cain can stay in the race much longer after one claim of a longtime affair and allegations of sexual harassment hanging over him. here to answer that question is the senior adviser for the cain campaign. now, let me start with you. when a candidate starts telling supporters it's time for a reassessment, it's over, isn't it? >> no, not at all. first, thanks for having me on the show tonight. i'm happy to be on with amy holmes. the cain train is moving full steam ahead. he filed his fees and papers to be on the ballot in nevada on february 4th. he's in over ten states he filed. the herman cain train is full speed ahead. he's got precinct captains in iowa ready to nominate him. the herman cain train is moving full steam ahead. i think that's not only healthy for herman cain who i support, it's healthy for the republican party and healthy for the citizens movement unleashed in 2010 with the tea party revolution which was a pox on both the establishment's houses that this man of the people, this man not of the establishment will not be scared away. >> but here's the problem, i would say, niger, a passionate defense of your man. i would expect nothing else. he's clearly charismatic and he's clearly trying to stay in the race here. but the money is beginning to ebb away as are his poll ratings. the reason is quite obvious. he's been hit by a succession -- this train has hit buffer after buffer of sexual allegations, which are clearly turning off a lot of conservatives and female conservatives in particular. >> well, let's be careful here. i mean, the epitaph -- the r.i.p. was written on his tombstone when the first incredible allegations from an incredible figure, miss bialek came out. and actually his fund-raising went up, his poll numbers had sustained. and look, in this case, according to your poll, the cnn poll, he's still in a neck and neck dogfight with mitt romney and with newt gingrich. let me tell you something, i think it would be a real tragedy for our country if we have a new standard for minority conservatives or for women conservatives whose characters get shredded by the establishment media, who the character assassination is relentless, and now you have a new standard. there's no dna on a blue dress here. there's no love child out of wedlock here. all right? there's no charge of sexual assault that's in the books here. >> let me jump in, niger! let me put to you one thing. you know herman cain better than i do, better than a lot of people. >> i saw him in weekend. >> okay. and i've interviewed him once. so you're ahead of the game on me. on his character and the kind of man he is. this woman says they had a 13-year affair. are you 100% confident, you, his close friend, his adviser, are you 100% confident that she's simply inventing a 13-year affair? >> pier, i'm not 100% confident that when i walk out of this building that i'm not going to get struck by lightning, but i find it highly unlikely. i've talked to herman, i've seen herman, i've seen him absolute deny this. and i find her -- frankly i find holes in her story. i find it a little strange and unusual that, let's presume -- i don't think it's true, i think it's wrong, i think it's a lie. but let's presume it's true. i find it strange and unusual that a person according to her testimony that was treated so wonderfully by herman cain would be part of the character assassination and destroying this man's -- not only his political candidacy, but his entire character. i find it very strange and unusual and i do not believe her. i believe herman cain. >> okay. let's bring in amy holmes. same question to you, amy. do you believe this woman's story? i mean, there are a few holes in it that are beginning to emerge. we haven't heard the full account of what evidence she has. herman cain's denial couldn't have been more emphatic. >> i have no way of knowing who to believe in all of this. if she's a fantasist, if she invented a 13-year-long affair with herman cain, i would imagine that herman cain must be pretty angry that any nut can go on local television and make these charges and, as niger put it, character assassination. i have no idea about the truth of this matter. but your campaign is in a pretty bad spot when you have to invoke stained blue dresses and love children and you're not talking about the issues. niger, he mentioned that herman cain has been the nonestablishment candidate, in this sort of circumstance, this is hurting him because he doesn't have an establishment to rally around him and defend him as they did, say, with bill clinton, with the stained dress, the entire democratic party trying to protect their man in the white house. so i think the problem here is that herman cain is asking a lot of his supporters, of his voters and potential constituents to support him through each one of these accusations. on top of this, he's been stumbling when it comes to foreign policy all of this is really weighing down his candidacy. we'll see what his campaign says about fund-raising, but will he have the money even to take this all the way to iowa, to pay his staff -- >> niger -- >> -- drying up. >> let me jump in again. niger, the problem here for herman cain is the sheer volume of allegations, isn't it? one or two you could brush off as disaffected women, but are you really going to look the american public in the eye collectively as a team and say, every one of these women is a fantasist? >> no. what i am going to say is this. i don't want to focus on the women. i don't want to besmirch their character and the way that they and a certain -- and a machine has besmirched herman's character. what i will say is that there are some very powerful forces out there and they're not just the liberals in the white house. there are conservative forces that have nothing but contempt for the tea party. they want their vote and their energy. but they don't want them at the table. >> but niger, niger, hold on -- >> let me just finish this one point, amy. and there are folk among the liberal establishment that very much know that for barack obama to win re-election, he has to divide and conquer, he has to use the race card, use the class warfare card. and herman cain's relevance in this campaign undermines that agenda and that initiative. >> but here, niger, here's the problem -- >> -- manifestations of that plan. >> amy, jump in there. >> here's the problem with that conspiracy theory which is if this is about trying to sideline or delegitimize a figure of the tea party movement, then michele bachmann who is the leader of the tea party caucus in the house, she would be facing these bizarre, wild, fantastical accusation just as herman cain. unfortunately for herman cain, he's the only person in this race at this moment who is having these people come forward to make these types of accusations against him. face it, gop voters have other option which they may consider. other conservative options. other non-romney option that don't come with this type of baggage. >> the character assassinations are not limited to herman cain. michele bachmann just on nbc on this entertainment program had an atrocious thing done to her that would never have held muster if it had been done against michelle -- the first lady michelle obama or hillary clinton. you know this -- >> niger, niger -- >> conservatives. >> -- disgusting. >> it's my show. it's my show. niger, fall back in line. >> yes. >> here's what confused me yesterday. i admire your passionate defense. but here's what confused me. at the precise moment that herman himself went on television with wolf blitzer to reveal all this and talk in some detail about all this, his lawyer was going elsewhere to the media saying this is a private matter. no denial. no, this didn't happen. this is a private matter. it's consensual, et cetera, et cetera. that's weird, isn't it? why wouldn't his lawyer say the same thing he's saying? >> no. first of all, the lawyer was doing his job as a lawyer. and he was saying that, first of all, this is an allegation. my client says it's untrue but it's an allegation. it is quite different than what had been alleged which is a sexual assault by an incredible person that gave incredible testimony alongside an ambulance chaser gloria allred. he was separating that and the so-called settlements from this allegation of a consensual relationship. >> but niger, all -- >> he was making the distinction. >> all the more reason why did the lawyer issue a statement since, as you and everyone looking at this would say that there's no criminal accusations here. so why would a lawyer be putting out a statement at all and why a lengthy one that is arguing that a person's private life should not be held up for scrutiny when running for office. that's a political statement not a legal one. very confusing. i would say, niger, that once again the herman cain campaign is, at the very least disorganized. you have a candidate making an unequivocal denial then you have his lawyer undermining that denial by saying it doesn't matter. >> i have to wrap this up. i want to ask niger finally this. and this is a question for you because you are a senior adviser to the team. if it turns out herman cain has been telling porky pies and has had an affair with this woman, would you then advise him to stand down? >> i would advise that that is a blow that would be difficult to come back from. yes, i would. but he has assured me that this allegation is untrue, and i think there is a larger question here, piers. and i think that larger question is do we have a new standard where you are guilt by accusation? if we have this new standard, you might as well clear the halls of congress, clear the staffers, three-quarters of our presidents would have never been in office -- >> niger -- >> this is not a new standard if you remember "the new york times" ran a very disgusting piece on john mccain below the fold front page accusing mccain of having raised suspicions among his staffers. it has to do more with conservatives than -- >> i have to leave it there. i've enjoyed -- >> defend john mccain. >> i have enjoyed. okay, niger, i have to leave it there. it's a fascinating debate. i think you have a good point that he is innocent till proven guilty and the proof will be in the pudding, as we say. let's wait and see. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. coming next, michael jackson's doctor is sentenced to the maximum term of four years imprisonment. will he actually do that time? 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and was justice served? joining me murray's defense team j. michael flanagan and spokesman mark fee arrow. a tough day. he got the maximum sentence. i was watching it life. it was pretty elongated, the judge's sentence decisionmaking. but as we got going and got going, you could tell the anger welling up inside him. and he clearly wanted to throw not just the book but the library at your client. why do you think he took so against conrad murray? because my experience has been with almost all the guests i've had very mixed feelings about this case in the sense of, okay, he may have been partly responsible for michael jackson dying, but he didn't do it deliberately. >> you just noticed it today. i've noticed it for almost two years. this judge has been angry with us the entire time. and today was just a real opportunity for him to vent his anger. >> why, michael? >> you know, i just think that -- mark,. >> mark, sorry. >> that's okay. this was about what the jury didn't get to hear. i would be furious if i sat on the jury for six weeks and never knew that michael jackson was $400 million in debt. you never heard that he was paid one cent, not a dime. >> it was that he was expected to be. >> not only was he not paid. he maxed out all of his credit cards caring for michael jackson. >> describe the relationship between conrad and michael jackson, clearly complicated. all the previous patient, i had four of them in here one day, very powerful testimony in conrad's favor. they couldn't recognize any of this picture being built about him at all. in the end he took the money, the fame, he wanted the glamour job, the big payday. >> you heard from the other patients. they all basically thought of themselves as friends. conrad murray thought of michael jackson as his best friend. michael jackson thought of conrad murray that way. conrad murray was the only one allowed upstairs in his house. it's incredible. conrad murray, the saddest day of his life was not today or wasn't the day that he was convicted. it's the day he lost his friend, michael jackson. >> one of the most furious passages, i guess, of the judge's sentencing came when he alluded to this documentary that conrad took part in. you didn't put the client on the stand, obviously. let's watch a little clip from this and then discuss this. >> i can cross-examine him and he wouldn't stand a chance. he's stupid. however, i take offense when my damn attorney is not prepared. >> we never said he gave a drip. >> i disagree with you. he gave a drip. it says here. >> dr. murray goes the dose and the drip. line 22. he says it. this is about that night. >> he needs to wake up. he needs coffee and some pit bull, or red bull. end of story. this is why i said i'm available. >> i mean, you don't know whether to laugh or cry watching that, i guess because -- i don't know. i felt uncomfortable watching that, i'll be honest with you. because if you're not going to have him speak in public in the court case, why let him do a documentary? isn't that going to be antagonistic? >> he needed to do the documentary. he was out of funds. he had no money for living expenses much less the expenses he had for his children. we had expert witness fees to pay. it wasn't for the attorneys, but he got paid some money. i don't know exactly what the numbers were, and it was used for living expenses. and by the way, in that piece, i said, conrad, you threw me under the bus. he says, mike, i was just -- i was hot, i was mad at that witness. and i just wanted you to rip him up, and you didn't rip him up. and i'm sorry, he said, if you'll just stick with me, we'll do it your way next time. >> everybody has known about these celebrity doctors, nor -- for want of a better phrase, who have administered stuff to people in their homes within the area around this studio in los angeles. and others say michael jackson was a fully grown man in his middle age, probably doing this for quite a while and should have been responsible for himself. but then there are the other, many in the medical profession who say what conrad murray did was fundamentally unethical and wrong. no doctor should have done what he did. do you accept that? >> i just got to say this. this is what was fundamentally different about this case. michael jackson had backed himself into a corner and had conrad murray walked away for a single day, not only would michael jackson have been $400 million in debt, he would have lost the catalog. he would have been penniless. conrad murray didn't know that he was going to die. he knew it wasn't a perfect setup, but had he for a single day, i'll pull the plug. that's the end of the tour. michael jackson was living in a rented home. had conrad murray walked away from his friend one day, michael jackson would have been penniless. would he be alive today? i don't know. he was chasing that propofol thing for a long time. >> secondly the family indicate that they may sue for up to $100 million. does conrad murray have any money? >> the judge might assess restitution in the sum of $100 million in january when we have to go back to court. it doesn't matter if he assesses him 100 million or a million, conrad murray doesn't have the money. he can't pay it. now that his livelihood has been stripped from him, he probably will never have that ability to pay that kind of money. >> were you expecting the worst of it? >> today, yes, i have been expecting the worst ever since the jury said guilty. i knew where this judge stood. >> how is conrad today? >> i haven't talked with him today. i'm meeting with him tomorrow. but he was strong last wednesday and the day before when i saw him. you know, it was devastating blow to get convicted. but he's been put into a situation and you know, there's survival instincts. he's doing okay. >> well, sad case for everyone involved. michael flanagan, mark fierro, thank you very much. coming next, the fighting host of "america's