mike osheerer around a.b. stoddard of "the hill." i'm candy crowley and this is "state of the union." 'tis the season for endorsements -- or not. a big not this week in iowa from the family leader -- the influential social conservative group said it won't even consider backing herman cain, citing, in part, a narrative of questions versus clarity on the key issues of life, marriage, foreign policy, and presidential readiness. joining us now from atlanta is herman cain. mr. cain, thank you so much for joining us here. i want to show our audiences, we noted you were the front-runner in october. this is our latest cnn/orc poll which shows you running at about 17%. that's an eight-point drop since october. you have the ""manchester union leader"" coming out endorsing newt gingrich who's now first in some of these polls. you have "the family leader" saying they didn't want to consider you because they don't really think you are ready for it. what do you think has gone wrong in the past month or so? >> well, obviously false accusations and confusion about some of my positions has contributed to it. that was to be expected. in terms of the campaign itself, nothing has gone wrong in terms of our strategy of spending time in new hampshire, south carolina and florida. so in terms of the mechanics of the campaign nothing's gone wrong. but as you know, candy, some people are heavily influenced by perception more so than reality. the good news is, most of my supporters, they have stayed on the cain train, as we say. >> let me talk a little bit about perception and maybe what you think you might have done to add to some of this perception. we have the words from the "family leader" today saying there just isn't some clarity in so many things they wanted to know from abortion and family issues, to foreign policy. and there is a group called factcheck.org, a nonpartisan group that kind of looks at what people say. they looked at your words on the allegations of sexual harassment, your explanation of your position on abortion, some of your answers on foreign policy and took into consideration your 9-9-9 policy and what it would do to those below the poverty level, and they were even harder on you than "the family leader." in factcheck.org they wrote, what's clear in all of this is that when cain plays fast and loose with the facts and when he comes under attack he exhibits a pattern of evasiveness and misdirection, changing his position and then blaming others for misunderstanding him. do you think that you've made some mistakes here in dealing with some of these things that have come at you pretty hard and heavy over the past month? >> well some of them, candy, have been taken out of context. so let me just set the record straight. i am pro-life from conception, period. secondly -- >> would you agree there was confusion there because you indicated in some interviews that that wasn't your position. >> no, i did not. see, that was taken out of context is what i'm saying. the interview where it was taken out of context was a highly hypothetical situation and they pulled that out without showing the entire segment. so this is why i'm setting the record straight because confusion has been generated. i'm pro-life from conception. secondly, on foreign policy, my foreign policy philosophy is peace through strength and clarity. i've been real clear about that. and the other thing relative to foreign policy is that i've been real clear about how i disagree with president obama on the draw-down of troops in afghanistan and iraq, et cetera. so i've been real clear. but a lot of confusion has been thrown my way and that's part of the -- part of politics. it's real clear where i stand. >> you don't think you could be clearer. because it does seem you say to our piers morgan that when the question comes to life of the mother in abortion, that should be up to the family. but you're saying that was taken out of context. >> yes, candy. that whole segment i talked about my position on life from conception, no exceptions. they didn't show that. then he basically raised a highly hypothetical situation relative to if it were my granddaughter and that's when they took that part out of context because of a poor choice of words in retrospect that then got later blown out and it became the story. >> i mean i guess that's what i'm getting to, is that you did say, well, that should be up to the family in response to a specific question about your granddaughter. so i just wonder if you -- >> but candy, candy, please. please allow me. see, the issue of do i believe abortion should be illegal? the answer is absolutely, yes. but see, what it's taken to another hypothetical situation, that's what was taken out of context. >> okay. let me move you on to some issues here. as you know, in the foreign policy national security debate newt gingrich caused quite a storm when he said that he thought there should be a humane way to somehow legitimize some of the undocumented workers that have been in this country for 25 years, pay their taxes, played by the rules, had family ties. do you agree with that? >> my position has been real clear. the illegal immigration issue has four problems. secure the border for real. enforce the laws that are there. i don't believe we need another path. we don't need any special exceptions. we need to clean up the bureaucracy that's already there. >> but there's 8 million -- >> -- promote the path of the citizenship -- nope, candy, i'm not going where newt gingrich is. i'm simply stating my position. >> why? >> my position is secure the border for real. promote the path to citizenship that already exists. the problem is the bureaucracy in getting people here legally. now then the way i would deal with those that are already here, which has been my stated position, empower the states to deal with the illegals that are already here. not some big grandiose national one-size-fits-all. i believe that the state's should be in power to deal with the illegals that are already here. >> so it would be okay with you if states said, all right, those of you who meet certain criteria can be put on a path toward legalization, towards citizenship. >> it would be up to the states as long as they did not break the federal law. >> okay. so in some ways, this is an issue you would leave to the states but you don't argue with newt gingrich's position even though his is -- seem to be a federal position that he would like the federal government to take that position. >> right. his position has created some controversy. here's another one of those gray areas that he's thrown out there that's kree created some contro. i'm basically restating what i've stated consistently relative to that. >> which is that it would be okay to you if states granted some sort of amnesty to those already living here. >> no, no, candy,dy not use that word. this is how misperceptions get started. i am not saying that at all. >> but you're saying it is okay with you if states said to undocumented workers, if you meet certain criteria, you may stay here. >> no, no, no. >> isn't that what you just -- >> that's not what i'm saying. let's try this one more time. please. give me a chance one more time to state this because it is a package. secure the border for real, promote the path to citizenship that's already there and the path to citizenship that's already there doesn't say anything about amnesty. thirdly, enforce the laws that are already there. but make it easier for companies to be able to enforce the laws. and fourth, empower the states. don't give the states any special things to do. just empower them to do, within the law, what the federal government is not doing. that's my approach to the whole issue. >> i think i'm a little confused but we want to move on. we'll take a quick break and when we come back i'll move to some other issues of the day. we'll be right back.ps efends agl constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. it's cramping. go ice that thing. sorry. hand cramp... ahh... [ male announcer ] cyber week starts sunday and lasts all week. plus get free shipping on hundreds of thousands of items. the only place to go for cyber week. walmart.com. hundreds of thousands of items. i heard they found energy here. it's good. we need the jobs. [customer:] we need to protect the environment. [worker:] we could do both. is that possible? [announcer:] at conocophillips, we're helping power america's economy with cleaner, affordable natural gas. more jobs. less emissions. a good answer for everyone. well, if it's cleaner and affordable. as long as we keep these safe. there you go. thanks. [announcer:] conocophillips. the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. it's got tender white meat chicken. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. mary? what are you doing here? it's megan. i'm getting new insurance. marjorie, you've had a policy with us for three years. it's been five years. five years. well, progressive gives megan discounts that you guys didn't. paperless, safe driver, and i get great service. meredith, what's shakin', bacon? they'll figure it out. getting you the discounts you deserve. now, that's progressive. call or click today. i'm an expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. massmutual is owned by our policyholders so they matter most to us. massmutual. we'll help you get there. back with the republican presidential candidate herman cain. mr. cain, because the super committee didn't get its work done, there are many things that are going to expire at the end of the year if congress doesn't act on them. i wanted to get your opinion on a couple of them. one of them is there is a payroll tax cut that is what you pay for social security in your paycheck that's been in effect -- it is a little over 2%. if congress does not act, that payroll tax cut will go away. meaning that about almost $1,000 to the average american will be gone from their paycheck. do you support extending that payroll tax cut? >> i could support extending it, but here's the problem -- it didn't do any good the first time. that is a thimble of water in the ocean. the president -- >> but isn't it something? i mean if you've got millions of americans that have $1,000 more in their pocket, that's got to help. >> candy, i'm agreeing with you. a thousand dollars would help a lot of people but it is a distraction from the big problem and that is a lack of effective economic policy to grow there economy. so argument over whether or not we should extend it or not extend it, that's not the issue. the issue is where's the economic growth for the entire economy. >> long-term unemployment benefits expire at the end of this year. that is unemployment benefits for those who have been unemployed for 99 weeks or more. >> right. >> do you believe those unemployment benefits should be extended? >> no. and here's why. where do we stop, candy, is the question. here again, extending unemployment benefits, extending the cut in the payroll tax are just distractions from the bigger problem, which is lack of economic growth which has not been there. secondly, we're spending money we do not have. it's unfortunate that people are unemployed. this is one of the reasons that i have proposed a bold plan to get this economy going which you know is 9-9-9. people need to go -- want to go back to work. that's the good news. but this economy's not producing the jobs in order to get 14 million people that are unemployed back to work. >> about 2 million of those will lose their benefits in long-term unemployment benefits are not extended. and there are lots of studies that show that one of the quickest ways to get money into the economy is through these unemployment benefits. so if i read you correctly, you would not be for extending those for another year but you would be for the payroll tax cut. >> candy? it's not that simple. and this is part of the problem. what we need to do to get this economy growing is to put fuel in the engine which is to cut taxes to businesses and individuals, rather than just cutting the payroll tax where people might have a thousand dollars. let's cut -- if the president wants to do something in the short term, cut income taxes. cut corporate taxes. this is something that i was proposing earlier. that would -- that would solve the problem. this is just tinkering around the edges. that's what i'm saying. >> right. and it may well be in terms of not getting huge tax reform around not reforming social security or medicare. but that -- none of the big things are going to happen by the end of this year. so that's why i'm asking with you these are going to come up incrementally and so i'm asking you whether you think, in the absence of these other things that you are talking about, those ought to be pass. >> but candy, if the president were to go to congress and say, "i want to lower personal income taxes and corporate taxes by a significant amount in order to do something such that next year will not be an economic flat line," i believe he would get that support. it simply is not in his dna. so no. taking a position on extending unemployment benefits, or leaving that 2 percentage point reduction in payroll taxes, that's not working on the right problem. that's my point. >> all right. let me move you to some foreign policy issues. in the debate recently, you were asked about the tsa. i just want to remind our viewers what you said. >> i believe we can do a whole lot better with tsa and i call it targeted identification. if you take a look at the people who have tried to kill us, it would be easy to figure out exactly what that identification profile looks like. >> targeted identification. can you expand on that? is that another word for profiling? >> i don't see it as another word for profiling. this is why i use the term "targeted identification." >> okay. what's the difference? >> targeted identification is a deliberate approach to figure out patterns associated with people who have tried to kill us. that's what that is. profiling has been used in a lot of other situations and it obscures the whole issue. targeted identification. if we go to the intelligence agencies and ask them to identify the people that have tried to hurt us, kill us, blow up our planes and things of this nature, they could do that. so targeted identification in my mind is different from profiling because profiling has been used in a very negative way. >> and so -- but this sounds a little bit like flying while middle eastern, not unlike driving while black. is that -- i'm just trying to get a handle on how you would do this. >> candy? you are trying to pull me into the rhetoric that gets people in trouble and what i'm trying to do is to not be drawn in to that. no. i am not trying to identify a particular religion, a particular color, a particular ethnicity. i'm simply saying we should not be afraid to identify those characteristics that basically have been consistent in people who have tried to hurt this country. that's all i'm saying. >> let me ask you, governor romney said, when you were talking about israel and the middle east during the debate, that the first country he would visit, should he become president, would be israel just to show the nature of that special relationship. where would the first country be that herman cain visits? >> israel would be one of the first countries. i might do a swing through europe and the middle east and certainly israel would be one of the countries that i would want to visit as part of my first foreign visit because i feel strongly that we should stand with israel and we should basically strengthen that relationship. so it would be one of the first, amongst many that i would include in an overseas trip. >> herman cain, thank you for being with us. we appreciate it. see you on the campaign trail. >> thank you, candy. up next -- we'll examine the political ad wars. all because so many people came to louisiana... they came to see us in florida... make that alabama... make that mississippi. the best part of the gulf is wherever you choose... and now is a great time to discover it. this year millions of people did. we set all kinds of records. next year we're out to do even better. so come on down to louisiana... florida... alabama... mississippi. we can't wait to see you. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. your new progresso rich & hearty steak burger soup. [ dad ] i love this new soup. it's his two favorite things in one... burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you. they're cute. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. it's me? alright emma, i know it's not your favorite but it's time for your medicine, okay? you ready? one, two, three. [ both ] ♪ emma, emma bo-bemma ♪ banana-fana-fo-femma ♪ fee-fi-fo-femma ♪ em-ma very good sweety, how do you feel? good. yeah? you did a really good job, okay? let's go back to drawing. how did i get here? dumb luck? or good decisions? ones i've made. ones we've all made. about marriage. children. money. about tomorrow. here's to good decisions. who matters most to you says the most about you. massmutual is owned by our policyholders so they matter most to us. massmutual. we'll help you get there. democrats aren't waiting for the formality of primary season to pick president obama's republican opponent. they're playing the odds and putting ads up in states they think will be in play next november. >> almost half of arizona homeowners under water. foreclosures everywhere. and what's mitt romney's plan? >> don't try and stop the fok process, let it run its course and hit the bottom. >> reporter: let arizonans hit the bottom? mitt romney's message to arizona -- you're on your own. >> this type of ad is known as "in their own words." reality ads, if you will, cherry-picking quotes to attack a rival with his own sound bites. they are all the rage. mitt romney also ignoring his primary rivals ran his first tv ad this week. >> thank you, new hampshire! how's everybody doing today? i am confident that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis. we need a rescue plan for the middle class. we need to provide relief for homeowners. it's got to take a new direction. if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> democrats cried foul because in that last statement, then-candidate obama was actually quoting the campaign of his then-rival john mccain. the idea of reality ads is to break through to voters cynical of paid advertising but do they work? our panel of advertising and political experts next. ♪ [ man #1 ] i was fascinated by balsa wood airplanes since i was a kid. [ man #2 ] i always wondered how did an airplane get in the air. at ge aviation, we build jet engines. we lift people up off the ground to 35 thousand feet. these engines are built by hand with very precise assembly techniques. [ man #3 ] it's gonna fly people around the world. safely and better than it's ever done before. it would be a real treat to hear this monster fire up. [ woman ] i think a lot of people, when they look at a jet engine, they see a big hunk of metal. but when i look at it, i see seth, mark, tom, and people like that who work on engines every day. [ man #4 ] i would love to see this thing fly. it's a dream, honestly. there it is.