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Lou Dobbs Moneyline
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Aired October 10, 2001 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Air strikes against the Taliban and the al Qaeda network targets in Afghanistan are continuing for the fourth straight day.
Good evening, everyone.
U.S.-led forces are pounding Kabul and Kandahar with the heaviest bombing of this campaign against terrorism -- Washington saying today that over the past month, 23 countries have arrested alleged terrorists in what is now a global crackdown on terrorism.
Tonight, we'll have a special report for you on how easy we have made it in this country for terrorists, drug dealers and money launderers to move money all around the world.
And then a new line on the Florida anthrax investigation: It is now believed that the anthrax spores in Florida may be manmade.
Rising investor confidence sending stock prices higher. Markets in Europe and the United States surging on the day.
But first, the latest developments in America's war against terrorism: CNN has learned that several Taliban leaders were killed Sunday evening in the first bombing raids against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Meanwhile. American aircraft pummeled the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar this evening. It is being described as the most intense attack on that city to date. At least 30 loud explosions rocked Kandahar over a two-hour period. The capital of Kabul -- also struck for a fourth straight night. And we are told, within just the past few moments, that aircraft are still over Afghanistan.
CNN has learned that U.S. ground forces could soon be used in Afghanistan, using a heavy emphasis on special operations forces.
And today, President Bush unveiled a most wanted list, a list that begins with Osama bin Laden and includes members of his al Qaeda network as well as other notorious terrorists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've got allies around the world helping us close the net. And today, by shining the spotlight on the first 22, it's going to make it more likely they will be brought to justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Thirteen of the 22 names on that list are wanted in connection with the embassy bombings that killed hundreds of people in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
The White House is urging the news media to exercise judgment in airing statements by the terrorist organization al Qaeda. In a message that aired yesterday, al Qaeda warned of more jet attacks on Americans. The White House says bin Laden could be using the international news media to convey coded messages.
The Taliban is denying that it's defense capabilities have been destroyed by the air assaults and says opposition forces have not made advances on the ground.
For more on this, we are joined now by John Vause in Islamabad, Pakistan.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, what we do know is that tonight, Kandahar was hit and hit hard.
As you mentioned, a sustained attack, the most intensive so far, lasting about two hours and possibly still going on right now. We're still waiting on confirmation at this end of that sustained attack.
We know that about 30 explosions have rocked the city, causing widespread panic. No reports, at this stage, of casualties. We know that the targets were military barracks, a military fuel depot as well as heavy armor within the city -- things like tanks and artillery.
Hours earlier, we know that the capital of Kabul was also the target of a military strike by U.S. air forces. During that attack, Taliban authorities cut the power to the city, plunging the city into darkness. Loud explosions were also heard north of the city, near the airport.
Now, despite all of this, the Taliban has remained defiant. Yesterday, here in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, the Taliban ambassador held a press conference where he describes the White House as being now a global bully. He also called on all Islamic nations to help Afghanistan in its war again the West -- Lou.
DOBBS: John, the -- in Pakistan itself, the government there has made it clear it is tired of those demonstrations, no matter how small or large, against these attacks. What's the situation in Pakistan tonight?
VAUSE: Tonight it's very quiet. It was quiet yesterday. Thursday -- we're moving into Thursday now. Another quiet day is expected here.
But the day which the government is preparing for is Friday. That is the day of prayer. People do not work on that day. It's a traditional day of protest. As I said, people are not at work, so they may be more inclined to take to the streets in protest.
Here in Islamabad, there is high security on the streets. Overnight, security checkpoints have sprung up. They're fortified. They're heavily armed. Also, heavily armed police are very visible on the streets.
So far, all quiet, but as I said, Friday is the day that they are preparing to try and confront what could be a fairly big day of protests -- Lou.
DOBBS: John, thank you very much.
John Vause from Islamabad, Pakistan.
Well, funneling money to those terrorists behind the attacks on the United States may have been easier than first imagined. Check- cashing stores, so prevalent in cities all across America, may have provided a very convenient network for moving that money.
Chris Huntington has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just days before Mohamed Atta led the attack on the World Trade Center, law enforcement officials believe he boxed up $5,000 in cash and shipped it overseas from this Kinkos in Hollywood, Florida.
On more than one occasion, Atta bought money orders from the shipping post in Punta Gorda. And in early September, officials say he picked up funds from another money-wire outlet in the middle of the state.
For the terrorists, moving money around could not have been more convenient.
JOHN MOYNIHAN, BERG ASSOCIATES: Some of the individuals actually used their right names, maybe off by a letter or two -- received money or sent money that way, bad people, going to engage in bad acts, literally commingle themselves into the good society, which made it even more deceptive.
HUNTINGTON: Investigators are now scouring the money-wiring outlets of Jersey City, New Jersey.
Hamed El Sisi runs this money transfer business, one door down from a mosque of the same name. At least two men detained by the FBI for questioning in the September attacks once lived in this large Islamic neighborhood. So did the men convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
El Sisi says he is concerned about the links being drawn between the two events.
HAMED EL SISI, ALTAWHEED SERVICES: It's a different time and different people, you know. Most of the people who got involved in 1993, they are not here now. There is a different situation -- almost 10 years ago.
HUNTINGTON: There are more than 160,000 state-regulated money transfer and check-cashing businesses in the United States. Commonly found in immigrant neighborhoods, they often offer a variety of services and transactions for a fraction of what banks or Western Union would charge.
Umer Darr runs Kashmir Money Transfer with his father, Mohammed (ph), right around the corner from their restaurant in midtown Manhattan.
UMER DARR, KASHMIR MONEY TRANSFER: Mostly, the money-transfer businesses -- like these are the hard-working people -- the cab drivers, the people who are working here, that's how they send money.
HUNTINGTON: But helping hard-working customers send money home to relatives is not the problem. Experienced investigators say that many money transfer agents either unwittingly handle illegal transactions or simply turn a blind eye.
Still others knowingly provide a gateway to a massive black market stream of funds.
WILLIAM WECHSLER, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: There's not going to be one moment where we say: "Now we have frozen all of al Qaeda's money." It's too complex a structure of -- the network is too complex. The structure of the network is too complex. It operates too much in the dark. There are too many different mechanisms.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTINGTON: Faced with a global network of money-transfer agents, some operating illegally in the shadows, but plenty more fully licensed and out in the open, investigators concede that closing down the money trail of terrorist funding may be impossible -- Lou.
DOBBS: Chris, that's fascinating -- the scale of this operation, 160,000 of these operations around the country.
HUNTINGTON: And many of them unlicensed subcontractors or subagents of the money transmitters that actually have the license with the state authorities.
DOBBS: Now are these regulated or unregulated?
HUNTINGTON: They are technically regulated by the states. As I mentioned, though, you've got agents who are probably never known by name to the state regulators.
DOBBS: And federal regulation?
HUNTINGTON: There's been a provision on the books since 1994 to create a federal registry of these operations -- Treasury today saying they hope to have that registration complete by 2002.
DOBBS: Chris, thanks. Fascinating. Well, we told you earlier that the White House is urging the press now to exercise judgment in airing statements by al Qaeda terrorist network.
Some of those statements have urged people of Islamic faith to kill Americans. Jack Wheeler is a Congressional adviser on geopolitics. He is an expert on the entire region of central Asia.
He also developed the Reagan doctrine, which led of course, to the eventual dismantling of the Soviet Union. And he joins us now.
Good to have you with us.
JACK WHEELER, DIRECTOR, FREEDOM RESEARCH INSTITUTE: A pleasure being here, Lou.
DOBBS: First, in terms of what you have seen occur by the British and U.S. forces in Afghanistan -- does it appear to you the administration is on the right course?
WHEELER: I certainly think so.
We've learned what the Soviets did right and what the Soviets did wrong. And I think we're going about it in an extremely effective way: dismantling the Taliban infrastructure, allowing our own guerrilla forces, that of this Northern Alliance, to come in and occupy the Taliban militarily, so that we can go after and send our special forces -- not ground troops, no infantry or invasion of Afghanistan -- but sending in our own special forces to hunt Osama bin Laden's people down and kill them.
DOBBS: Jack, I know that you've studied the forces that were arrayed against the Soviets in Afghanistan, who spent some considerable time in Afghanistan. One of the things one hears is that people saying they hope the United States doesn't make the same mistakes that the Russians did. Is it your sense that this is at all a parallel situation? Is this a similar situation, in your mind?
WHEELER: No, it's not at all. We're not trying to occupy or colonize Afghanistan. Our job is to hunt down and kill terrorists. That's our job. And I'll tell you what the greatest danger we face in Afghanistan is. It's not military. I mean, we can do the job. We know how to do it. We'll hunt them down. We'll hunt Osama bin Laden and all his people down, and we'll kill them and get rid of them.
The greatest danger we face is political. It's trying to rebuild the nation of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is a country that cannot be governed and it cannot be ruled. And we should not try. Our job...
DOBBS: This administration has made it pretty clear that it's not interested, Jack, in nation-building...
WHEELER: Well, we're trying to rebuild this government of Afghanistan, and if we get bogged down in this quagmire of setting up King Zaher Shah and getting involved in all these factions, we are just into "Tar Baby City." And we do not need to do that. We need to hunt the terrorists down, kill them, get out of Dodge, get out of Afghanistan, and go on to the next target, which is Iraq.
DOBBS: The next target is Iraq, in your judgment?
WHEELER: Absolutely.
DOBBS: And why is that?
WHEELER: Because Saddam Hussein is the main terrorist in the world. It's not Osama bin Laden. Without -- without the forces and the support of Iraq and Saddam Hussein, why Osama bin Laden wouldn't be nearly as effective as he is. We're not after Osama bin Laden at the ultimate goal. Osama bin Laden is only an approximate goal.
The goal is to kill the terrorists, get rid of the entire phenomenon. And you cannot do that unless we get rid of Saddam Hussein.
DOBBS: And the concern expressed by many in government, not only in the United States, but frankly around the world, is that this could become a -- a war of religious -- well, religious war. Do you think there is a real possibility of that occurring even remotely?
WHEELER: You know, actually, I think the greatest threat of Moslem terrorism is to Islam itself. I mean, we're going to win this war. The greatest threat of Moslem terrorism is not to us. We will hunt these people down and we will get rid of them. The greatest threat is to Islam. They have disgraced Islam. They have damaged Islam. They have humiliated Islam.
And what Moslems have to understand is that there is a moral disease within Islam. This is a moral disease of Moslem terrorism that's no different from Nazism and communism.
All three are religions of envy. Nazism was race-based envy toward the rich, exploitive Jews, and communism was a class-based envy toward the rich, exploitive bourgeoisie. And Moslem terrorism is culture-based envy toward the rich Christian West. And they have got to exorcise this cancer, this moral disease within their own religion if there is to be survival for the religion of Islam in the 21st century.
DOBBS: Are you heartened by the fact that there has been little, if any, support for the Taliban from both the Arab and Moslem states around the world?
WHEELER: I don't know what you mean by any support. I mean, there's a lot of people dancing in the streets and...
DOBBS: Well, I mean, governmental support, heads of state. Yasser Arafat, for example, this time, if I may emphasize that, expressing his opposition to terrorism. There are some positives here, too, are there not? WHEELER: I certainly hope so, and we've got to have a way to support that and to get rid of this disease of Moslem terrorism within the Moslem community itself.
DOBBS: Jack, thank you very much for being with us. I hope you come back soon...
WHEELER: Pleasure being here.
DOBBS: ... to discuss these developments and what we can expect in the days and weeks ahead. Jack Wheeler, thank you.
Still ahead here, the latest on the anthrax case in Florida. Was that anthrax man-made? Where did it come from? Is anyone else infected? We'll bring you the facts, next.
And with the threat of a bioterrorism attack hanging in the air, we'll tell you what many Americans are doing about it. And we'll bring you the latest developments from Afghanistan, of course, as the strike against terrorism continues over the skies of Afghanistan.
It's all ahead here on MONEYLINE.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: There are tonight still more questions than answers in the Florida anthrax scare. Questions such as: Where did the spores come from? Were they man-made? And is anyone else infected?
Rhonda Rowland joins us from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta -- Rhonda.
RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, good evening. This afternoon, we sat down with the director of the CDC, Dr. Jeffrey Kopland, and he told us that in this case of this biological outbreak, the public health system worked. And what he meant by that is they were quickly able to identify the agent of anthrax, quickly able to get lifesaving antibiotics to more than 700 people in Florida who may have been exposed to anthrax. And that is critical in controlling this outbreak.
And also, he said that the CDC is continuing their investigation. They do expect to learn when the exposure occurred, how it occurred, how extensive it was. And with the tests they're doing now, they expect to have some of those answers over the course of this next week.
Now in the meantime, there are a lot of people in the general public very concerned about their risk for anthrax and wondering what they can do to prepare themselves or protect themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JEFFREY KOPLAND, DIRECTOR, CDC: There's no reason for folks to stockpile antibiotics. There's no reason to try to preguess what antibiotics to use. We can get antibiotics to a community very quickly.
We made the decision that people would need to take them as soon as we had two persons with a similar exposure in the same workplace, and that immediately defined the population that needed the antibiotics, is the people who worked in that institution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLAND: Now, Dr. Kopland also told us there's been a lot of speculation about whether this strain of anthrax is man-made or naturally occurring. He said while that is interesting to the investigation, it is not vital protecting the public's health, and here at the CDS that is their role, protecting the public's health.
Back to you, Lou.
DOBBS: Rhonda, that's interesting. In terms of the reports that we've had on anthrax, they have said, those reports generally, that depending on the number of spores inhaled, that the gestation period for the disease varies. That is the more that are inhaled and infect the body, the more quickly death could result. It's 90 percent, as I understand it, fatal. How does that square with the idea that one would wait two weeks to find out precisely what's going on to react?
ROWLAND: Well, that is a very interesting point, and you are correct that it is a dose response. That is, the more spores you get, the quicker you might develop anthrax. So the first gentleman who got sick very quickly, he probably was exposed to a large number of spores. And yes, the incubation period can be much longer if there are fewer spores.
However, all these people down in Florida, 700 people have been given antibiotics, a 60-day course. So they are all protected. So even if they have been exposed to anthrax, the CDC says they will not get sick -- Lou.
DOBBS: That is reassuring, and we could use a little of that these days. Rhonda, thank you very much. Rhonda Rowland from the CDC.
Well, because of that anthrax case, many Americans are now concerned about the possibilities of a bioterrorist attack. And that concern has created a run on gasmasks.
Bruce Francis reports on one company's scramble to meet that demand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUCE FRANCIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With military spending dwindling, making gas masks looked like a dead-end business to KX Industries CEO Evan Koslow. So in 1998, Koslow focused the company on water filters and air purifiers. But after September 11th, he knew that times were changing back.
EVAN KOSLOW, CEO, KX INDUSTRIES: It suddenly occurred to me, literally at night. I just broke out into a sweat, and I said, wait a second, we've got to start the gas mask production lines again.
FRANCIS: Koslow dug up old inventory, contacted former suppliers to get back critical machinery, and scoured for former workers. The goal: restart the line in two to three weeks, producing 1,000 to 2,000 masks per week. No reliable statistics exist, but it's estimated that worldwide only about 25 companies produce a total of 3 million military-grade gas masks a year.
Koslow believes that an additional 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 million masks are needed, mostly for the military, rescue workers and medical personnel.
The most prized on the Web right now: gas masks from Israel, where the threat of bioterror has been a way of life for years.
Still, public health officials are unanimous in discouraging consumers from buying gas masks.
DONALD HENDERSON, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: The last thing you'd recommend is that they get a gas mask. This is really useless, and in fact it can be dangerous there.
FRANCIS: Koslow agrees.
KOSLOW: We're not really recommending that they buy any equipment at all. In fact, we're advising against that.
FRANCIS: And while he's wary of again depending on government spending, the greater danger is in not retooling the business.
Bruce Francis, CNN Financial News, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Well, if I understood that correctly, getting ready to sell a lot of a product that he wouldn't recommend one buy.
Well, still ahead here on MONEYLINE, we'll have the latest developments for you in America's war against terrorism, the global war against terrorism. And then the Nobel Prize in economics awarded to three Americans. Their information: Information rules when it comes to the markets. And we'll also be reporting to you on the global economic impact of the terrorist attacks. We'll hear from the editor of "Fortune" magazine, who says America's stimulus package needs to be implemented and implemented quickly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The United Nations and International Monetary Fund have released studies showing the attacks had a devastating effect on international trade. Kitty Pilgrim has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The United Nations says the September 11th attack will, quote, "reverberate through the world economy," shaving growth by 1 percent this year.
IAN KINNIBURGH, UNITED NATIONS: The situation has deteriorated markedly, in part because of the attacks, but also because of the ongoing slowdown, and that these two have interacted and reinforced each other.
PILGRIM: The U.N. says world trade will have zero growth this year and developing countries will have a harder time than industrialized areas, like the United States and Europe.
That conclusion also by the recent IMF economic damage assessment, which found Asian countries have a, quote, "regional vulnerability" from the drop-off in demand from the United States.
ROBERT HORMATS, GOLDMAN SACHS INTERNATIONAL: A number of Asian economies are weak, and several, in fact, are in recession. They're in recession in part because exports to the United States have declined, and in part because they don't have sufficient domestic demand to offset the weakening of their exports to the U.S.
PILGRIM: The September trade numbers are just starting to come in. Korean exports were down 17 percent. Shipments of semiconductors were down 63 percent. Taiwan's exports are down 43 percent.
Markets reflect the gloom: Since the September 11th attack, markets in India, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and China all lower.
FRED BERGSTEN, INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: When stock markets drop, when investor confidence declines around the world, that means less investment money going into these countries. All of them are pretty heavily reliant on foreign direct investment, portfolio flows, bank loans. When that dries up, their economies suffer substantially.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now economists have been calling the deterioration in the world economy symmetrical. The U.N. assessment agreed. It called it synchronized global weakness, saying this was going on before September 11th, but the attacks served as a shock to an already weakened economic system -- Lou.
DOBBS: Zero growth.
PILGRIM: That's right. Zero trade, they said. Zero trade.
DOBBS: OK, all right. Kitty, thank you very much.
Well, after weeks of bipartisanship in Washington following the terrorist attacks, relations between the two parties beginning to show some signs of a little strain over a stimulus package to help this ailing economy. But Rik Kirkland says if there is one thing both parties agree on, it is that a package needs to be passed and soon.
Rik is managing editor at "Fortune" magazine and is here tonight. Rik, is it your judgment that we're going to see this package pass soon?
RIK KIRKLAND, "FORTUNE": We're obviously going to see it before the end of the month, Lou. Both parties agree and the president's pushing hard.
DOBBS: How big?
KIRKLAND: Generally, in the range that the president has called for, around 75 billion, which is in addition to the 55 billion or so that's already passed.
DOBBS: Despite the fact that a number of people are calling for a far larger package, most of those people, oddly enough, in private enterprise.
KIRKLAND: Well, I think there's a real concern in Washington, which reflects very much the view of Chairman Greenspan's got a little clout down there, that you don't want too big a package, because the importance of this package to some extent is psychological, to show the government's doing something about this problem. But if you do too big a package, you scare the bond markets. You might raise mortgage rates and long-term rates. And that's really what's keeping consumers spending right now, is the value of their homes.
DOBBS: Impact, in your judgment, against state budgets, that stimulus package coming out of the federal government. We also know this is going to have a deleterious effect on state budgets, even the creation of deficits in some cases. What do you think will happen there?
KIRKLAND: Well, I think -- you're right. It's an off-setting effect. I mean, states -- Mayor Giuliani announced we've got to cut 15 percent across the board in the city. Part of the package that he and Governor Pataki put out today, a $54 billion request, was $12 billion to offset lost tax revenues.
Now, I don't think that's going to fly in Washington, because, frankly, while New York's taken a terrible blow, every state is going to be hurt if we go into recession. And the government can't bail them out, but it can at least do something to put some money into people's pockets, to help businesses invest by giving accelerated depreciation, that kind of thing.
So you'll see that kind of mix, I think.
DOBBS: And the impact of the stimulus package, if passed, if you're right, by the end of the month along with the interest rate cuts -- monetary policy loosened by the Fed -- it should have some significant impact on the economy, at least for the beginning of the year, one would think.
KIRKLAND: It should help. As I say, you know, the key here to me is psychological. It's true this package is four times bigger than what the tax cuts were this summer, but still, it's a drop in the bucket of a $10 trillion economy. What you need most of all is to have people out flying again and traveling again and buying again. If you get that, we're going to be OK. But until you get, you know, we're not of the woods.
DOBBS: Well, we saw at least the beginnings, or what appears to be the beginnings of a return of investor confidence.
KIRKLAND: We sure did, and that was encouraging/
DOBBS: Rik, thanks a lot. Rik Kirkland.
KIRKLAND: Thanks, Lou.
DOBBS: Still ahead here on MONEYLINE, the terrorist attacks damaging economies around the world. We'll be taking a look at further assessments of that issue. We'll also bring you the latest developments on America's war on terrorism. And we will hear from former Defense Secretary William Cohen on U.S. strategy going forward. We will also hear from one fund manager whose feelings about these markets can be summed in one word: scared.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: We had a rally on Wall Street today. Christine Romans at the New York Stock Exchange. Greg Clarkin at the Nasdaq market site with all of the happy details. We begin with Christine -- Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the bulls were certainly happy, Lou. It felt really good for those people. Take a look quickly at the Dow chart. You can see it closed above important resistance at 9,200. And when you look at the big board winners, you can see the names were very broadbased here.
Abbott Labs, the drug company, up as it met the Street's expectations on earnings. GE, it reports tomorrow. 3 percent earnings growth is expected, a far from cry from double-digit growth investors are used to. But investors today, well, they said they'll take it.
Global Crossing, up sharply here today. But look, that stock is still trading below $1.00: $1,000 in this a year ago is worth about $22 today. And interestingly, a little bit of bargain hunting today.
Pepsico, third-quarter profit growing 14 percent, thanks to Mountain Dew Code Red and Lay's Bistro Gourmet chips. More importantly, the company said it's on track for 2001 and 2002 earnings.
Meanwhile, the brokers rallying as well here, Lou. A lot of folks are expecting a very tough third quarter for these names on this last. Four lost trading days, damage to their locations in downtown Manhattan. But traders are starting to say, maybe the worst is already baked into these stock prices. It might be time to come in and buy them in anticipation of some sort of recovery next year.
Still, day by day, here, Lou, a lot of folks are a little nervous about what tomorrow may bring.
DOBBS: I think we ought to point out, too, Christine that it may not be the time to buy those stocks as well. Right?
ROMANS: Absolutely, you never know. These have been very volatile of late. So it takes a little bit of nerves to step in with much guts on these days.
DOBBS: Well, it's good to see those stock prices moving higher, nonetheless.
ROMANS: Absolutely.
DOBBS: Christine, thank you. Chip stocks leading today's technology advance. The Nasdaq surging nearly 3 percent on the day.
Greg Clarkin is at the Nasdaq market site to tell us about what amounted to a 56 point gain in the Nasdaq, right?
GREG CLARKIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Lou. And this is one of those rallies in techland that really kind of gathered strength as the day went on, and actually even surprised a lot of folks by just how strong it was.
But traders tell us what they sense today was that investors were in a comfort zone, Monday and Tuesday. A lot of uncertainty with the beginning of the air strikes. And today, they kind of returned to that comfortable area where they felt that they could kind of deal the environment that we're in.
Volume picks up. That is demonstrated by the 1.8 billion shares we saw trade today. On Monday and Tuesday, we're looking at 1.4, 1.5. And some traders say that maybe the sense of sellers who were kind of washed out of the market.
You remember that first week back after the markets were closed? We saw tremendous selling. Since then though, it has been pretty much upward for the Nasdaq. This is the best close since September 10's closing level of 1695.
As for those big names today, they all posted gains. Microsoft, Intel, Dell, gaining. Yahoo! gained ahead of its earnings report after the close of trade. It comes out with one penny in earnings. That's pretty much right in line with expectations. That stock up in after-hours trading as well, Lou. So again at this point, traders caution that it is a very, very much a news driven market. But today at least, they did sense investor confidence returning.
DOBBS: Investor confidence returning and sellers, did I understand you correctly, Greg, were washed out of the market?
CLARKIN: That's what one trader said. He believes that a week after September 17 or 21, they kind of feel that maybe a bottom was put in place there, some of the sellers washed out. You know, this could all change tomorrow.
DOBBS: Thank you for that.
CLARKIN: Sure.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Greg. Greg Clarkin at the Nasdaq market site, where apparently sellers, some of them at least, were washed out today.
Now for the latest developments in the global effort to strike against against terrorism. CNN has learned that several Taliban leaders were killed Sunday evening in the first bombing raids over Afghanistan. Today, U.S. forces pounding the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. Targets were also struck in the capital of Kabul.
U.S. military planes continuing to drop food over parts of Afghanistan. C-17 cargo aircraft are being used to drop some 37,000 humanitarian food packages each day to Afghan civilians.
And promising to shine the spotlight on terrorists wherever they hide, President Bush today unveiled a "most wanted" terrorist list. NATO Secretary-General George Robertson today met with President Bush to discuss expanding the role of the NATO Alliance in fighting terrorism around the world.
Well, turning to Wall Street again, Harvey Eisen says he might be scared, given current market conditions, but he is still putting money into the markets. And if you know Harvey Eisen, you know that's not a contradiction. Chairman of Bedford Oak Advisers, he joins us now.
Good to have you with us.
HARVEY EISEN, CHAIRMAN, BEDFORD OAK ADVISERS: Thank you.
DOBBS: This market we have seen take a terrible pace really over the last year and a half, but since September 11, we've regained much of what we've lost. Is the worst behind us?
EISEN: I think it is. I think we made a primary low. You have a two to three to four week rally, which we're having now. Then you have a retest.
DOBBS: It is a peculiar market. When we talk about our various emotions surrounding this market, everyone is trying to absorb and simulate a lot of information about this market. They have watched it be volatile. They have watched it lose. How confident are you, as you sit here tonight, and you're one of the few people I would ask this of, but I think it's instructive of our viewers, how confident are you of saying to investors watching tonight, what they should do in the market?
EISEN: Well, ex another attack...
DOBBS: Right.
EISEN: I'm very comfortable telling them what to do, because I'm doing it. DOBBS: Terrific. What are you doing?
EISEN: Look, I've studied this market. I've been in this for 35 years. This is a major buying opportunity when you eliminate the fear of another attack, the risk of another attack and the emotional side, which has been horrible. I mean, we live in this city. This is home for us. This has been a major disaster.
But if you get away from the emotions and you look at the facts, the facts are, you're in a position to have a major bottom.
DOBBS: Do you have the sense that as these attacks, this certainly retaliation, that has gone on now for four days and only the beginning of that retaliation, do you sense that as a result of that retaliation, we're starting to see some confidence build in the marketplace?
EISEN: Well, I'm not an expert on that. You have plenty of those, but personally I think it absolutely makes no difference because we saw this in the Gulf War in 1990. The key issue is the uncertainty of what can happen going forward. We know the bombing's going to continue. I mean, I watch your show every night and you tell me it's successful and I accept that. That's not what's driving the market.
DOBBS: What's driving the market?
EISEN: What's driving the market is the fact that we've been in a bear market, you just pointed out, for a year and a half. We've been in a recession. And all of a sudden, the floodgates are open. The Fed has cut rates nine times. The government is stumbling all over themselves to throw $200 billion into the system, 2 percent of GDP. There's no inflation.
And you were getting ready to make a bottom and this thing blew it away. So what you did was you pushed it forward six months. You're going to get a bottom in the economy next year. You're going to get a bottom in the market six to nine months before, if the old rules hold.
DOBBS: And trusting that they will, what would Harvey Eisen recommend that people do with their money, with a higher order of specificity?
EISEN: The first thing that you do is not is not panic and sell everything. The next thing you say is, how much risk can I assume? If you buy the steady growers, the J&Js, the AOLs, the Citicorps, you're going to be fine.
If you're more adventurous, you buy the mid cap growth stocks that are growing at 20 and 25 percent a year. I mean, I have a bunch of favorites there, but just to pick one, it's called Value Vision, which is $14 stock with $9 in cash and no debt. And GE owns 27.5 percent of this thing. It's the only pure play left in the business.
And if want to be a bottom fisher, which I've been accused of, you've got to look at things in the travel area. I mean, the cruise lines, the airlines, the hotels have been just obliterated.
DOBBS: Harvey, as always, good to have you with us.
EISEN: Thanks, Lou.
DOBBS: Harvey Eisen, thank you.
Well, the 2001 Nobel prize in Economics was awarded today to three Americans. They were honored for their work on a concept called "asymmetric information." That theory overturned the traditional notion that markets function perfectly. And specifically, that capital markets function like other markets.
Kathleen Hays joins us now. She has more -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I guess this is any surprise to anybody who's ever tried to buy a used car, for example, that markets aren't perfect, because if you think about the traditional view in economics was that markets are perfect in the sense that every market price reflects all information available.
These Nobel prize winners overturned that notion. They said no markets are imperfect in large part because information is asymmetric. What does that mean? Well, I know more than you do if I'm the buyer or the seller. I have information that I don't necessarily give you. Why would I? In that sense, information's is not perfect. The playing field is not level.
The bottom line, whether you're selling an insurance policy or thinking about buying stocks, you have to decode the signals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH STIGLITZ, PROFESSOR, NOBEL PRIZE WINNER: Equity markets may not work as well as we traditionally thought they would, because people who are buying shares know that the original owners of the company are more likely to want to sell their shares if the shares are overpriced. So the very fact that you're willing to sell a fraction of your company is a signal that maybe they're paying too much for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAYS: Dr. Stiglitz told me, of course, that's one reason why we watch insider selling by people who own part of a company decide to share their shares. Another example, Lou, would be that if I am going to sell you an insurance policy, I don't know what kind of risk taker you are. But if opts for, say a very high deductible, low premium because you know your behavior isn't risky, that sends a signal back to the insurance company. And those are the kinds of things they're looking at.
DOBBS: Now Harvey's a practitioner of the trade and a mighty smart one. Joe Stiglitz, a much-deserved Nobel prize. How much of that do you use every day?
EISEN: Well, he's still an economist. Give me a break. Very little.
HAYS: One of the best comments I saw on this, Lou, was this really isn't something for the man on the street. This is a tool the economists use to model economy and think about how things work. Seems obvious to us now, but at one time it wasn't, I guess.
DOBBS: Well, I'm going to try to get one-on-one, Harvey. I'm going to put this into my model tomorrow as soon as I (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And I'll give you the memo on that. Harvey, thanks a lot for being with us. Kathleen, thank you.
Coming next here, many Americans have come to know Cantor Fitzgerald and hundreds of employees that the firm lost in the terrorist attacks. We'll tell you how the company is now planning to help out families of the victims. And it is day four of the strikes against the Taliban and al Qaeda networks in Afghanistan. We'll have the latest for you.
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DOBBS: U.S. troops are now on the ground in Uzbekistan. And CNN has learned that they could see action soon. To take a look at these latest developments and to put them in perspective for us, we're joined now by William Cohen.
He's the former Secretary of Defense, of course, and regular MONEYLINE contributor. Bill, Good to see you again tonight.
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: The word coming from the administration, obviously word that they don't mind having out, because it did come from them, that ground troops will be the next phase of this action and apparently relatively soon. Give us -- put that in some perspective for us.
COHEN: Well, what you've seen is the Air Force and the Tomahawks coming from our submarines and elsewhere being delivered to take out the air defense systems, so that now we own the skies over Afghanistan for the most part. That means that now the ground forces, light forces, special forces, can go in, make lightning-like strikes against Taliban forces in and out in a relatively short period of time.
And that will help to break the back of the Taliban itself, and then allow the Northern Alliance and other opposition groups to really dominate on the ground and take back the control of the government. And then, of course, will come the responsibility of the United States and other governments to help if not nation building, then institution building, to try to help this country come out of the Stone Age, where the Taliban has taken it, and put it at least into the 19th and 20th centuries, and hopefully one day into the 21st.
DOBBS: Are you impressed? Earlier Jack Wheeler, as you know, the architect of the Reagan doctrine, raising the idea that the Muslim world faced a very difficult problem here. And frankly, if you will, were their own worst enemy. He was very negative about the Muslim world. It seems to me that there has been remarkably little support expressed for the Taliban here, if any?
COHEN: I think you've seen some sporadic demonstrations, come in significant numbers. But what is important is you have the governments in place in all of the Gulf states and the Arab states who support the United States and the Western world, indeed the civilized world against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda.
And so, they have their own domestic problems, but it is required of them that they take a very strong leadership role and point out that what the al Qaeda and bin Laden and others are doing is contrary to civilization itself. And they want to take us back to prehistoric times.
And I think the leaders in the Arab world have to be more forceful in speaking out, understanding they still have a very delicate situation in terms of maintaining their own leadership, which we want to continue to support.
DOBBS: An understated, and frankly probably underreported here, has been the support the United States has received from not only NATO, but nations around the world. Do you think that we are making enough of that, if you will, the positive support that really the world is taking in this effort against terrorism?
COHEN: This is a remarkable period of time. We're seeing seismic changes taking place in terms of our external or international relationships. The fact that the United States is now in active discussions with Russia, formally the Soviet Union, which we had that long Cold War, that we are in active discussions with China.
Just a few months ago, there was great hostility that was brewing between the two of us. I think it's a remarkable period of time and a remarkable opportunity for the United States to work on a multilateral basis with countries building this campaign against global terrorism. And so, we have unique opportunities here as well as the peril.
DOBBS: Bill, thank you, as always. Bill Cohen.
COHEN: Thank you.
DOBBS: Coming up next on MONEYLINE, on the eve of the one-month anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Cantor Fitzgerald lays out its plan to help the families of the employees whose lives were lost. That story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Days after the World Trade Center attacks, Cantor Fitzgerald's chairman, Howard Lutnick, made a very public pledge to take care of the families of the employees who were killed. Now, nearly a month later, the firm has laid out what it will do.
Hillary Lane is here now and has the details for us -- Hillary.
HILLARY LANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, most people who watched Howard Lutnick during his nationally televised interviews remember how he broke down and cried. And many cried with him. But the families of the victims listened to Lutnick say that he would take care of them as part of his family.
And for past month, they've been waiting. And Cantor stopped paying the salaries of those who died just a few days after the attack. And there were many families members who thought he might be backing down from his promises.
Today, Cantor disclosed exactly what it plans to do. As Lutnick promised on "LARRY KING LIVE," the firm will give families 25 percent of its profits for five years, and longer, if necessary. And that money will pay for 10 years of health care, both the firm's side and the family side, and leave each family with a cash total of at least $100,000, and more if the firm does better.
The cash bonuses will be paid before Thanksgiving. They'll be equal to last year's bonus for administrative and support workers who died. And the families of those who worked in revenue-generating jobs will be rewarded based on the firm's restored records.
Cantor earned $150 million in profits last year. So even with a decrease in business, the firm says it should be able to meet those promises. And Lutnick finalized the details over dinner last night with 35 of the families.
Many of the families that we spoke with said they hadn't received any information yet. The firms says it's going to send it out in packages on Thursday morning, but most families we provided with details said they were pleased. And one family even called the package exceptional.
DOBBS: And at this point, they haven't heard about those details from the firm?
LANE: They have not. And if you look if the Web site, the only place I was able to find it was in press releases.
DOBBS: OK. Well, we will be watching carefully and hopefully. Thanks very much, Hillary.
"WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" begins in just a few minutes here on CNN. For a preview, let's go now to Wolf in Washington -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Lou. We'll look at the U.S. military options. What's next in the war against terrorism? I'll talk live with Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. He's a key member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. And I'll check in with our correspondents here in Washington, as well as in the region. We'll also get the latest on the anthrax scare in South Florida. That and much more, next -- Lou.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Wolf.
Coming up next, we'll take a look at your e-mail and we'll take a look at what we can expect tomorrow. Stay with us.
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DOBBS: Tomorrow, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan will address the St. Louis Fed on getting the market in sync with monetary policy. Wall Street expecting quarterly results as well from General Electric, Costco, Doubleclick, Juniper Networks, and a number of other companies as well.
We'll also have the weekly jobless claims report. Economists expecting more than half a million new claims. That number would be right at the nine-year high.
Time now for a look at some of your thoughts. Our report last night that airlines are sending increasingly dozens and dozens more of unneeded aircraft now to the Mojave Desert. Smart concerns among some viewers that we were giving away strategic positions.
Mike Stuart warned: "You painted a great big X on that airport. It was very irresponsible of you."
Another viewer asking: "How come you tell everyone in the world, including the terrorists, where they can find extra planes to crash into things?"
Well, the fact is this facility we've reported on in California has been in use for years. We didn't tell you about security arrangements at the facility because we were asked not to. But have no doubt, there is a great deal of it.
As for jumping into one of those airplanes and flying away, it would take days and days of preparations just to get one ready to take off. And don't forget about those unspecified security arrangements. So don't worry.
And you should know, we consider national security interests in a time of war very, very carefully.
Please send us your thoughts. E-mail us at moneyline@cnn.com. That's MONEYLINE for this Wednesday evening. We thank you for being with us. I'm Lou Dobbs. Good night from New York. "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" begins right now.
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