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Donald Trump: Herman Cain a 'great guy'
01:00 - Source: CNN
Washington CNN  — 

Donald Trump met Saturday with Herman Cain – whom the real estate mogul called “Mr. 9-9-9” – and a group of African-American pastors on how to better engage African-American voters.

After Cain addressed the crowd in Norcross, Georgia, Trump praised the former presidential candidate’s “9-9-9” tax proposal from the 2012 campaign.

“When he said 9-9-9, I said, ‘What the hell is that?’ But he had a good thing,” Trump told those in attendance, referring to Cain as “Mr. 9-9-9.”

The 9-9-9 plan would have replaced almost all current taxes and with a 9% income tax, a 9% corporate tax and a 9% national sales tax.

Cain told CNN that he’s advising Trump to focus on issues during the campaign.

“The thing that I’d emphasize to him – and I’ve done it before – is to stick to substance,” Cain said. “Substance, substance, substance. And he’s got plenty of substance.”

He added, “I think he’s doing great. But you have a lot of people waiting for him to go into free fall.”

Cain, who hosts a radio show, said he’s not making any endorsement at this time.

“I have six candidates that I’m pulling for. Politics is too fickle to pick any one person for a radio host,” he said. “He’s one of the six that I’m pulling for.”

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Trump’s meeting with pastors in Georgia come after a recent get-together with religious leaders advising Trump on how to engage African-American voters, said Darrell Scott, pastor of New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

“We met with him last week in New York at Trump Tower,” he said. “Out of that meeting, we articulated to him that there’s a disconnect between him and the black community and in order to bridge that gap, he needs to engage the black community. And the best way to engage the black community en masse is through the black church.”

CNN’s MJ Lee and Noah Gray contributed to this story from Norcross, Georgia.