>>>
welcome back, everybody. we turn now to the
sexual harassment
scandal threatening to derail
herman cain
's run for the
white house
. the latest accuser to go public karen kraussar apparent lip wants to conduct a joint news conference with three other
women
. speaking to the media yesterday,
cain
emphatically denied any wrong doing and called the claims baseless. he also refused to exit the race. take a listen.
>>
with respect to the most recent accusation, i have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period.
>>
karen kraussar, a spokeswoman spoke to the "
washington post
," she wants all of these allegations reviewed by a collective body of evidence. ladies, it's good to have you here.
sharon
, i want to start with you. because i want to get your reaction to the press conference that most of us watched last night to hear how
herman cain
responded to the accusations that you have leveled against him. and he was also accompanied by a pretty high-profile attorney
lynn wood
. take a listen to this.
>>
i'm not an expert on how the brain works, but i do know that i sat there and went
over and over
and over in my mind, do i know this lady? the answer kept coming up no. sitting there trying to remember, do i know her? i didn't recognize the face, i didn't recognize the name, nor the voice.
>>
sharon
, he says he doesn't know who you are. doesn't recognize the face, the name, the voice. how can you prove to all of us, to all of america that you know
herman cain
?
>>
i was very disappointed, but not surprised by the answer. i gave him every opportunity to make this right. his response disrespected me and millions of other
women
across the country who are violated in missed a great the workplace. opportunity of greatness.
>>
sharon
, how can you prove to us, to all of us that you know him? i know there's one report in the "
chicago sun
-times" where witnesses say they've seen you hugging
herman cain
at an event a month ago. why would you be doing that?
>>
let me clarify. there was no hugging involved. there was an arm, elbow, we were behind the stage at the
tea party
conference. and in order to geto noises going on as you know that there are, i simply grasped his elbow and leaned in towards him and said a few words to him to acknowledge that he knew exactly who i was. and i will not share right now what i said to him, but he acknowledged who i was and acknowledged that he did, in fact,
remember who i am
.
>>
why don't you want to share with us what you said to him? did it have something to do with this incident that happened over a dozen years ago?
>>
it was simply a few statements to jar his memory. and if he can't -- and that was only a month ago.
>>
now, there are these reports that you've had financial troubles, unpaid debts. here is
herman cain
talking about that yesterday.
>>
okay.
>>
she claims that her past financial situation, the number of civil lawsuits she's been involved in, she claims it does not play a role in her coming forward. from a
common sense
standpoint, one would have to ask if, in fact, that might not have been a motivation.
>>
so a motivation, money that they're referring to in all of this may be the reason why you came forward. what do you have to say to people out there who may think that too that you could possibly be just a gold digger?
>>
sure. i -- if i was coming in this for money, i wouldn't be sitting right here. i would have sold my story and left. that was not the motivation. it still is not the motivation. i was simp trying to give mr.
cain
a platform to come forward and do what is right. and apologize to myself and other
women
. and possibly even more
women
who might now have the courage to
step forward
.
>>
and speaking of motivation. of course, we have to talk about the motivation of
herman cain
to deny these allegations by so many
women
. obviously he has a financial and a political motivation. to be able to raise more money for his campaign, also to sell his books. his political motivation is to try to stay in this race and stay on the top. so he has a motivation to deny, and i think her motivation is pure.
>>
ladies, first
cain
's team blamed the leak on
rick perry
, now he's saying it's the democratic influence that may be behind this. take a listen.
>>
these anonymous allegations are false and now the democrat machine in america has brought forth a troubled woman to make
false accusations
. statements, many of which exceed
common sense
.
>>
gloria
, you are a major donor to the
democratic party
. we're talking about motivation here. do you have political motivation?
>>
i'm embarrassed how little money i've given to the
democratic party
. everyone in new york, i think, remembers the news conference i did here about a month or two ago where my client and i held a news conference and criticized democratic congressman
anthony weiner
for the sexual messages he had sent to membership client and my client standing next to me said he should resign and i supported her in that and he did resign the next day. so i don't think if a person who has hurt a woman or acted improperly with her is democrat, republican, libertarian, or no party. rich, powerful, and famous, i'm there to stand up for
women
to be treated with respect and with dignity and, unfortunately,
herman cain
has not done that.
>>
sharon
, have you been in contact with any of the other alleged accusers? and are you planning to possibly band together to maybe talk about your stories and potentially hold a joint news conference in the future?
>>
i have not been in contact with them, and i want to say i'm so proud and so happy that this gal came forward. you know what? if me putting myself on the limb as i have with my friends, family, and everybody that knows me, if it just made one person come forward, then it was worth it. and if it makes other
women
out there who are subjected to this on a daily basis, then i'm glad that i did it. and to further this, if the
women
would like to get together and
gloria
and i have yet to discuss this, i'm all for it if
gloria
is, and we'll discuss that at a later time, though.
>>
and i want to say how proud i am of
sharon
. because i do give her all the credit for even the fact that apparently some other
women
are thinking of coming forward now now that she has.
>>
gloria
, i want to ask you now, because
cain
has lawyered up. and she's represented everyone from the parents of
jon benet ramsey
and
kobe bryant
. he's a
big gun
in the legal world. why do you think
herman cain
would align himself with him at this time?
>>
i don't know,
herman cain
has millions to spend and i guess he thinks he needs a lawyer. maybe he thinks he can't handle this himself. maybe he's trying to suggest that
women
should be intimidated, be afraid of being sued. i don't know, but i can assure you of this,
sharon
has courage, and she has shown this
courage under fire
. and i don't believe other
women
will be intimidated at all. i certainly hope they will not. i'll be there to support them if they ask me to support them.
>>
what is your
end game
agenda here? you've come forward this could taint your professional career moving forward, what is the
end game
agenda for you? how do you want this buttoned up in your life so you can move forward?
>>
sure. and i have. and i just want to make an apology to anyone i may have affected through this. i came forward, myself, and the others just kind of got caught in this cross-fire. i really have no aspirations at this time. again, i want to reiterate. i'm not doing this, i'm doing this because it's the right thing to do. what the future holds, i don't know. right now i'm just trying to get through each day at a time.
>>
minute-by-minute. that's the best you can do.
sharon
bialek, thanks
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