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Lou Dobbs Tonight

Rally Lifts S&P 500 Above 1,000; Interview With Tom Ridge; Special Report on Emergence of New Diseases

Aired June 16, 2003 - 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.


ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Monday, June 16. Here now Lou Dobbs.
LOU DOBBS, HOST: Tonight, new market highs for the year, a late spring rally lifts the S&P 500 above 1,000 for the first time since last summer. Susan Lisovicz will have the full market report for us.

Building port security at home and abroad, the Homeland Security Department has a new $300 million plan. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge joins us tonight.

And, monkeypox, SARS, the West Nile virus and Ebola. Tonight we begin a series of special reports on the emergence of these new and mysterious diseases and their cost in human and economic terms. Tonight, Jan Hopkins reports.

And, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is our guest.

Good evening everyone. Our top story tonight, U.S. troops are again in combat in Iraq. Operation Desert Scorpion is the boldest military operation in more than six weeks as several hundred troops swept through towns and villages west and north of Baghdad today.

Jamie McIntyre joins us from the Pentagon with the latest.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, the Pentagon, the U.S. military is following the old adage that the best defense is a good offense. It has been under sporadic attack now for weeks. It began last week when it kicked off the biggest operation since the war began and the latest phase is called Operation Desert Scorpion.

Under the plan, using U.S. informants, the U.S. is targeting people believed to be Ba'ath Party members or die-hard supporters of Saddam Hussein. It kicked off after a weapons amnesty expired and the sweep of neighborhoods and villages continue today. So far, more than 40 suspects have been rounded up in house-to-house searches.

Meanwhile, the ambushes continue. Today, someone places a mine in a tunnel apparently hoping to get a U.S. military convoy. A civilian taxi triggered it instead.

Yesterday, someone fired a rocket-propelled grenade at some U.S. soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division but apparently hit a civilian bus instead. During that confrontation two U.S. soldiers were seriously wounded, six others lightly wounded but the U.S. says it is getting the upper hand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. JACK HAMMOND, U.S. ARMY: Every day it's getting a little bit better at least on our side of it and we're able to take the initiative away from the bad guys. When we first got here we spent most of the time dodging bullets and RPGs that they were firing. Now, we're getting to kick in their doors and arrest them through the intelligence we've been getting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Another attack today wounded -- or rather yesterday wounded two U.S. soldiers slightly. So, the combat operations continue but the U.S. says they will continue to keep the pressure on Saddam Hussein loyalists until they're able to break the back of the resistance -- Lou.

DOBBS: Jamie the hearing for Sergeant Akbar who's accused of killing those two fellow soldiers in Kuwait with a grenade started today. What more can you tell us about that?

MCINTYRE: Well, this is a preliminary hearing which is like a civilian grand jury proceeding in which evidence is presented to see if they can go to court martial, and today at least two officers testified against Sergeant Akbar about the circumstances surrounding the incident in which he is accused of rolling grenades and, in fact, shooting some officers in an attack on March 23rd.

This proceeding will go on probably all week and will end up with a recommendation that most likely will result in a recommendation to go to trial. If convicted, Sergeant Akbar could receive the death penalty for these charges -- Lou.

DOBBS: Jamie, this appears to be taking some time to even go to this stage following the Iraqi war. Is there some reason for this seeming delay?

MCINTYRE: Well, it's not really a delay. It's basically the way the process works. There is some complication in that some of the witnesses in this case are still in Iraq. About two dozen or so will be testifying by video link-up. But this is the normal procedure to have this Article 32 hearing followed by a period of deliberation and then a full court martial if that's what's warranted.

DOBBS: Jamie, thank you very much, Jamie McIntyre, our Senior Pentagon Correspondent.

In the Middle East tonight, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is urging radical Islamist terrorists to end their attacks against Israel. Abbas visited Gaza hours after Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups met with Egyptian negotiators and rejected their calls for a cease-fire with Israel. Israel today also stepped away from calls for a truce. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel's assault on Hamas will continue as long as terrorism is rampaging.

White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has the latest for us -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, President Bush very much sounding like candidate Bush today earlier in Elizabeth, New Jersey, highlighting his domestic agenda. But the big focus, the big push now of course is getting the Middle East peace process back on track.

Now publicly, the White House is condemning extremists like Hamas, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer calling them rejectionists, but privately the Bush administration putting pressure on the key players, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

And today here at the White House, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Israelis, a chief of staff, the main message here Israel has every right to defend itself, but again they do not believe that these assassination attempts against Hamas are productive when it comes to these talks.

And again, of course, for the Palestinians that Hamas must have a cease-fire, the Palestinians given a chance, Abbas, to establish peace in those Palestinian regions.

I should also tell you, Lou, as well we heard very strong words from the president defending himself against the critics those who claim that the administration exaggerated these claims of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction the justification for invading Iraq in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This nation acted to a threat from the dictator of Iraq. Now there are some who would like to rewrite history, revisionist historians is what I like to call them. Saddam Hussein was a threat to America and the free world in '91, in '98, in 2003. He continually ignored the demands of the free world so the United States and friends and allies acted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And, Lou, now all sides simply say they are waiting for a brief relative period of calm before they move forward when it comes to the Middle East peace process -- Lou.

DOBBS: Suzanne, thank you very much, Suzanne Malveaux reporting from the White House.

The powerful forces of religion and history are at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but another powerful force is also at work in the region that of demographics. Increasingly, Israel is a small, aging nation with a declining birth rate, isolated by neighboring Arab states whose populations are skyrocketing and becoming ever younger.

Kitty Pilgrim now reports on the power of population, stagnation, and growth in shaping the future of the region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas of the world. Twenty percent of the Palestinian community in the West Bank and Gaza is under the age of five and the birth rate ranks among the highest in the world, and for some Palestinians the birth rate is a potent political tool.

JON ALTERMAN, CSIS: Many Palestinians see reproducing as the best thing they can do for the national cause and what the Palestinians have to do is have babies who will then go on and have more babies and have Palestinians and Arabs outnumber Israelis in Israel.

PILGRIM: It is a well-recognized fact in Israeli politics that if the West Bank and Gaza is annexed into Israel the demographics will create a single state that loses its Jewish majority by including three and a half million Palestinians. Any attempt by Jewish leaders to keep power would not be possible in a democratic political system, a point acknowledged by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak in a recent speech.

EHUD BARAK, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: If there is only one political unit called Israel, it will inevitably become either non- Jewish or non-Zionist.

PILGRIM: Without the West Bank and Gaza, however, Israel can maintain its Jewish national character. That's one reason why a Palestinian state makes sense to many politicians and scholars.

GEOFFREY ARONSON, FOUNDATION FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE: That would argue for Israel to withdraw its forces and its settlers from these occupied areas and then preserve in that way Israel's own demographic Jewish majority and in turn permit Palestinians to organize politically in a Palestinian state and therefore that would enable each community to grow and develop independently.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: Now, by contrast, in Israel the population growth rate runs basically flat. That includes Jewish immigration to Israel from other countries. It comes down to demographic reality. That can't be denied -- Lou.

DOBBS: And, immigration itself isn't that one way in which Israel can help itself?

PILGRIM: That was one big hope for Israel but basically they've had their influx from Soviet Jews who came in the 1990s and now it slowed to a much smaller crawl.

DOBBS: OK, Kitty Pilgrim, thank you very much.

Well, another potential threat to global security tonight, Iran's nuclear program. According to U.N. monitors Iran has failed to report all of its nuclear activity. The International Atomic Energy Agency today called on Tehran to allow further inspections of its nuclear power sites. The United States has long said Iran is using those sites to develop nuclear weapons, National Security Correspondent David Ensor reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The board of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency heard a closed door appeal from its director for the International Atomic Energy Agency to press Iran saying it has failed to report certain nuclear materials and activities as required by international law.

At the same time, European foreign ministers issued a statement calling on Tehran to urgently and unconditionally sign an additional agreement exposing it to surprise inspections of newly-revealed nuclear sites like the ones near Natanz and Iraq.

JEFF KEMP, NIXON CENTER: You now have the IAEA and the European Union talking from the same sheet as the United States on the issue of Iran's nuclear program. This is very important because ultimately that's how I think one can put pressure on this regime to delay, defer a nuclear weapons option.

ENSOR: The demonstrations of recent days are putting domestic pressure too on the regime in Tehran.

BUSH: This is the beginnings of people expressing themselves toward a free Iran which I think is positive.

ENSOR: In Tehran, officials called that comment "blatant interference" and Iranian officials accuse the U.S. of inciting the protests through satellite TV channels run by (unintelligible) Iranians. U.S. officials say the protests are homegrown Iranian.

RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: They don't have anything to do with the United States.

ENSOR: The new pressures on Tehran are welcomed in Washington but some analysts argue until quiet talks with the Iranian government are resumed, there may be no meaningful progress on the issues the U.S. cares about, curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions, its support for terrorists, and its interference in Iraq.

KEMP: It is madness not to talk to the regime. We can talk to them and be highly critical. We talked to the Soviet Union all through the worst points of the Cold War.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ENSOR: A couple of weeks ago sources indicated Iran might soon turn over some al Qaeda prisoners it has to their countries of origin, possibly Saudi Arabia or Egypt. Since then, the public silence in both Tehran and Washington on that important issue has been deafening -- Lou.

DOBBS: David, the other quiet aspect of this is the role of the Russian government here, their influence with Iran, how important, how likely it will be applied in a positive manner?

ENSOR: The U.S. is very much hoping to influence Russia, Lou, to refuse to supply uranium or nuclear fuel to the Bushehr reactor which the Russians are building in Iran unless and until the Iranians sign this additional protocol that the U.S. is pressing for Iran to sign.

Now, there was a statement by President Putin that he might insist on that but other Russian officials have said otherwise and it just isn't clear at this point where Russia is going to come down.

DOBBS: David, thank you very much, David Ensor our National Security Correspondent.

In Iran, security forces out in force as protests stretched into a seventh night. Students began protesting plans to privatize Tehran University a week ago. Those protests grew to demands that Iran's clerical leadership step down. Some teachers and other sympathizers have joined with the students in those protests. They have been attacked by security forces and pro-government vigilantes.

Still ahead here tonight, nickel and diming America, hidden fees and charges on your cell phone bill. If you aren't upset yet just wait until Peter Viles reports.

And, our series of special reports on emerging diseases from monkeypox to SARS, the link between animals and deadly diseases in humans. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is our special guest. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: The Supreme Court today upheld a ban on interest group donations to federal candidates. The ruling involved an anti-abortion group that argued not-for-profit advocacy groups should be able to make campaign donations because they rely primarily on individual donations. In a 7-2 decision, the high court rejected the argument.

Another note on political fund-raising, tonight President Bush named former Montana Governor Mark Racicot to head his 2004 reelection effort. The announcement comes as the president prepares to launch a record setting fund-raising swing. President Bush is expected to raise as much as $25 million by the end of this month.

On Wall Street today a stunning rally. Stocks rose for a fourth time over the five past sessions. The S&P 500 closed above 1,000 for the first time in almost a year. The Dow Jones Industrials soared 202 points. The NASDAQ gained 40. The S&P 500 up more than 22 points. Susan Lisovicz is here now with the market for us -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, you know, this is a market that has rallied in spite of bad news. Today we got terrific news and stocks took off. The catalyst for today's rally came before the opening bell. A surprisingly robust manufacturing report for New York state that bulls say forecast better times for that hard-hit sectors.

Pharmaceuticals in Vanguard with a study from Pfizer showing promising results from its cholesterol lowering drug Lipitor, Merck a Dow component one of 319 stocks at the NYSE hitting new 52-week highs. Only two hit new lows. In fact, every Dow 30 stock ended up on the day.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, says it's on track to meet its June sales targets even though demands for summer-related items, such as shorts and tank tops remains weak due to the unseasonably cool weather in some parts of the country.

The three major indices each ended more than two percent higher on the session, the Dow closing above 9,300 for the first time since July 5th of last year, up 11 percent this year. The NASDAQ at its highest level since May of 2002, now up 25 percent so far this year.

Lou, you'd be hard-pressed to find a negative in today's market but I did find one, volume slightly lower, 1.3 billion shares traded on the day. A year ago close to 1.6 billion.

DOBBS: That's a negative but the direction is still great.

LISOVICZ: It's very positive.

DOBBS: Susan, thank you very much, Susan Lisovicz on the market.

And that bring us to the subject of tonight's poll, what do you think of the recent stock market rally, too much too soon, downdraft ahead, just what we needed, or even more to come? You can vote at cnn.com/lou, preliminary results coming up later in the broadcast.

The final results of Friday's poll, the question "Should Israel stop its attacks on targets in Gaza," 58 percent of you said yes, 42 percent said no.

Checking our corporate America criminal scoreboard tonight, 73 executives in all of corporate America have now been charged, 18 of them are from Enron -- rather 16, excuse me. Sam Waksal is the only one sentenced to jail. It's now been 560 days since Enron filed for bankruptcy.

Checking on the national debt tonight as we do each night, it stands at almost $6,600,000,000,000 tonight. The debt has risen by more than $40 billion so far this month.

When we continue, hidden charges, the nickel and diming of America in your cell phone bills, Peter Viles breaks down the hidden fees buried in your bill and you may not want to turn to the government for protection. He'll tell us why.

And, unsafe harbors, dangerous gaps in port security and what's being done to close those gaps. We'll be talking with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: When is a good deal not a good deal? Chances are when it's the advertised price of cell phone service. The price you pay is often 20 percent higher partly because phone companies are disguising the cost of some business to look like government imposed fees, but that's just part of the real story behind those unexpectedly high bills, Peter Viles reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cell phone service $45 a month but there is a catch actually, there are 13 catches, all those extra fees at the bottom of the bill. Now, politicians will tell you it's the phone company adding on surcharges and disguising them as taxes. Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon recently sued Sprint and Nextel.

JAY NIXON, ATTORNEY GENERAL, MISSOURI: The overall trend her is it's a competitive industry and they're trying to make money by being deceptive in what their billing practices are.

VILES: But here's what the politicians won't tell you. Most of those charges really are government taxes and fees because the government loves to tax cell phone use.

SAM SIMON, TELECOM RESEARCH & ACTION CTR.: The real problem is the taxes. It's a hard thing to say because local governments need money sources but the amount of taxes on phone bills, whether it's wireless or wire lined have in some instances gotten to as much as 30 and 40 percent of the bill.

VILES: Look at this Sprint bill from New York, a local wireless tax, a federal tax, a city sales tax, a state sales tax, a state wireless 9-1-1 surcharge, a local wireless 9-1-1 surcharge, and there's more, a special local fee, a local surcharge, a state gross receipts tax, a state excise tax, plus a federal universal service fund charge.

That is 11 government charges and they add 22.6 percent to this bill and it's not as if other industries are hit just as hard. Cable TV taxes, for example, average in the five to six percent range.

STEVEN BARRY, CTIA: The wireless industry is the new kid on the block and we're an easy target and unfortunately until consumers realize that they're going to have to tell their state and local officials that enough is enough, we'll continue to see increased taxes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VILES: Now, those who would like to roll back some of these taxes, well good luck. The basic phone tax in this country a three percent excise tax was supposed to be temporary and that was 105 years ago. It was first collected 1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American Civil War and it's still on your bill today -- Lou.

DOBBS: And we won that as I recall.

VILES: We did.

DOBBS: All right, Pete, thank you very much, Peter Viles.

Well coming up next here safe harbor, protecting this nation's ports from attack. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will join us to discuss the progress against terrorism at our ports and other threats that remain.

Later, emerging diseases, deadly viruses, and no cures, tonight we begin a series of special reports. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is our guest. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Tonight, a Roman Catholic bishop is under arrest in connection with a fatal hit and run accident. Phoenix, Arizona Bishop Thomas O'Brien was arrested after police traced a license plate number to his car. Police were investigating the death of a man Saturday who had been by two cars.

Bishop O'Brien was charged with leaving the scene of the fatal accident. Earlier this month, O'Brien relinquished some of his authority in a deal with prosecutors. That agreement spared him from indictment on obstruction charges for protecting pedophile priests.

In other news across America tonight, crime is falling but some violent crimes are on the rise. The nation's violent crime rate fell nearly one and a half percent last year. The FBI says the number of murders rose about one percent. Forcible rape shot up four percent.

The woman who was the public face of the Pentagon during the war against Saddam Hussein is resigning her post. Victoria Clarke said she's stepping down for personal reasons.

The ringleader of an immigrant smuggling ring is in federal custody tonight. Twenty-five-year-old Carla Chavez is accused of leading the operation that left 100 people trapped inside a sweltering tractor trailer in Texas last month. Nineteen of those people died.

The Bush administration says it's committing to the protection of our borders by land and by sea with an expanded emphasis on the nation's ports. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge recently awarded $170 million in security grants to U.S. seaports.

Secretary Ridge also unveiled a plan to screen more cargo in foreign ports before it leaves for this country. Secretary Ridge says that will make our ports and borders the last line of defense not the first. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge joins us now from the "Money" magazine summit in Midtown Manhattan, Mr. Secretary good to have you with us.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Lou, it's very nice to join you again.

DOBBS: The money that you authorized last week for heightened security at our ports is it sufficient?

RIDGE: Lou, I think it is a very significant down payment. I don't think anyone in Washington believes that there won't be additional dollars available for port security but I think it's reflective of a much broader approach than simply securing the ports here.

I think all of us would agree, whether you'd been in the military or not, that one of the most important things we can do is push our perimeter out as far as possible. And so, the fact that we would be engaging with right now 20 partners around the world to generate about 68 percent of the container traffic that we are checking out the cargo and the crew in these ports under our container security initiative is the way to go.

DOBBS: The bulk of that money going to the nation's largest ports understandably but where does that leave the medium-sized ports around the country? Are you planning further funds for those ports?

RIDGE: Lou, I think ultimately we will be working with the Coast Guard and providing security assessments and vulnerability assessments around the country. The additional dollars will flow in part, I think, from additional federal dollars I presume in the 2004 budget and beyond.

But at some point in time, we need to have a public discussion as to where, whether it's port security or elsewhere, do we look to the private sector to help us secure this critical infrastructure.

DOBBS: You recently suggested that the color-coded alert system doesn't meet your standards, you're not satisfied with it.

What do you have in mind as an improvement?

RIDGE: Well, first of all, I think it's very important that the nation has begun to understand that the national threat warning system is really a signal to the professionals, it's a signal to the law enforcement communities, to those in the public and private sector responsible for securing people and buildings and venues. But I think it's been in operation for a year. I believe that even today, as you and I speak, we are at a yellow level. It's an elevated level of risk to attack. We are far stronger today at this level and far better prepared today than we were a year ago. I think a year from now, yellow will mean even greater protection and security. So I think it's been in existence for a year, we've got to go back and take a look at it and see if we can find ways to make it better.

DOBBS: So you're planning to change it then?

RIDGE: We're going to take a good honest look at it and talk to the law enforcement people around the country. I think it's very important for people to understand that this is really a signal to them, just as a traffic light signals different kinds of conduct, hopefully this is a national signal based on our threat analysis that they need to do additional things to be prepared for a greater or enhanced possibility of risk. We'll work to see if there are adjustments needed.

DOBBS: As you know better than any of us, Mr. Secretary, much of this burden falls upon local first responders, fire departments, emergency, medical technicians, obviously the police department.

Is -- do you have plans to provide more resources, more funding for local and county governments and those first responders as a part of your plan going forward?

RIDGE: Lou, the president, with strong bipartisan support by Congress, has authorized, and they now have appropriated, and we literally have in the pipeline as you and I are speaking this evening, an excess of $4 billion that will go to the states and locals, to the first preventers or the first responders. If Congress embraces the president's request for an additional $3.5 billion to state and local governments, we will have seen an infusion of nearly $8 billion to these political partners. The other side of that equation is, while the department is very interested in appropriations and inputs, we're also interested in outcomes. We want to make sure the dollars for every security dollar spent, we get a dollar's worth of enhanced protection.

DOBBS: Give us your sense, if we may in conclusion, to where the United States stands today through your eyes and your eyes, of course, are among the best-informed in the country, in terms of the terrorist threat.

How much better or worse we should feel about the state of terrorist threats against this country?

RIDGE: Well, I think the extraordinary success of the military and the CIA and the FBI domestically, we've certainly disrupted, if not apprehended their organization, the terrorist organization, particularly al Qaeda, frozen assets. And I think there's been a real demonstrable impact on how they operate and how they plan. But having said that, I think because we also know this is an organization that's very decentralized, that they have opportunities. I mean, we are still the primary target, that we still need to be very aware and very vigilant.

That's why we remain at an elevated level of risk. But I must say it's not just what the federal government has done. I get a chance to see this country strategically at very high level, say 40,000 feet, but I can go to the ports and talk to the mayors and talk to the police chiefs and fire chiefs. And every day since 9/11 this country becomes stronger and more secure. And I that's our goal within the department and think that's the goal around the country. We will prevail at the war, but at the end of every day, we want to make sure we're at a higher level of readiness and higher level a security, than when we turned the lights and we walked into the office that morning. on that morning. I think American is doing that and we'll continue to do it.

DOBBS: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge.

RIDGE: Nice to be with you this evening. Thank you.

DOBBS: That brings us to our "Quote of the Day" from another Bush administration official who today spoke on the campaign to wipe on you terrorist worldwide.

"We cannot allow ourselves to grow complacent. We cannot forget that the terrorist remain determined to kill as many Americans as possible and they are still seeking weapons of mass destruction, chemical, biological and nuclear weapons to us against us." Vice President Dick Cheney.

California lawmakers once again missed their deadline to pass a state budget. The California legislature deadlocked over how to close the $38 billion deficit, the largest of any state in this country. The rising deficit is at the heart of a massive effort to recall the governor of California, Gray Davis.

Casey Wian has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the hottest autograph in California these days at shopping centers and over the Internet, 700,000 voters have signed petitions to recall the Governor Gray Davis according to recall supporters. With 200,000 more, voters will have the chance to remove Davis from office as early as this fall. Californians have try to recall governors 31 times before, all unsuccessfully. But this time the state is in political choas.

SHERRY BEBITCH JEFFE, USC: You've got the ideological extremes in there. I mean, this is a perfect storm of destabilization of government of the total wackiness of democracy.

WIAN: Recall supporters blame Davis for the state's energy crisis, economic downturn and budget deficit. They accuse him of downplaying the financial plight to win reelection last year.

SAL RUSSO, RECALLGRAYDAVIS.COM: We now it's 38 billion deficit and voters were truly outraged because they were lied to. In California we have the initiative, the referred, the recall so there's accountable.

WIANS: According to a public policy poll, hits approval rating is 28 percent the lowest in state history, and more than half of likely voters support recalling the governor. Despite those numbers, Davis supporters dismiss the recall effort as a partisan power grab largely financed by Darryl Issa, a wealthy U.S. congressman with his sights on the governs Mansion.

DAN TERRY, TAXPAYERS AGAINST THE RECALL: Almost 7 million people voted in the last governor's race, so seven months later we're now going to have 900,000 undo those results? That is not democracy, that is anarchy.

WIAN: Even Davis opponents admit, anarchy may aptly describes what could follow a recall. Voters would choose a new a governor at the same time and the field is wide open. Besides Issa, potential candidates include Republican activist Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. Lesser knows are likely to run as well with a legitimate shot at victor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

But California politics are already close to anarchy. Lawmakers, as mentioned Lou, missed the deadline to pass the budget, so the states 38 billion deficit keeps growing. Any candidates who succeed in taking a shortcut to Sacramento will have a huge mess to clean up -- Lou.

DOBBS: It makes you wonder why people want the job.

Where does Governor Davis stand on the recall effort?

How close are they to having that recall petition signed?

WIAN: They're only 200,000 signatures away. The recall supporters hope they'll get that by the end of next month, which would put the issue on the ballot in the fall, and would result in a special election. Governor Davis was initially pretty silent throughout the whole recall campaign, lately though he's been speaking out, calling it a waste of taxpayers' money. And I should point out that his office decline a request from us to interview him on this subject -- Lou.

DOBBS: Casey, thank you very much. Casey Wian reporting from Los Angeles tonight.

Turning now to our "Thought of the Day," on the one constant in life.

Nothing is permanent but change." From Heractillus.

Still ahead here, emerging diseases, our series of special reports on the alarming surge in new deadly diseases. Jan Hopkins will have the report and Health and Human Service Secretary Tommy Thompson will join us.

And the fall out over French opposition to the war in Iraq continues to cause some controversy. And the latest even to feel the heat the Paris Air Show.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DOBBS: Tonight we begin a special series of reports on emerging diseases this week.

It seems as if every week we have a new disease to report. Health and Human Services Director Tommy Thompson says infectious diseases are the third leading cause of death in this country. Tonight, Jan Hopkins takes a look at where those emerging diseases are originating and why they are here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAN HOPKINS, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mask of SARS, the scar of monkeypox, the bite of West Nile virus. All of these diseases have a connection to animals. It's the pet prairie dog for monkeypox, it may be an exotic animal in a Chinese market that first spread SARS, and it's the mosquito for the West Nile.

Researchers say of the 30 new, emerging, infectious diseases, three-quarters come from animals. So did the AIDS virus.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: HIV-AIDS itself is a disease, a viral disease that jumped species from an animal, a chimpanzee, to humans. And it was the humans going into the jungle, slaughtering animals for food that ultimately put them into contact with the virus that causes HIV.

HOPKINS: Animals and mankind are living closer together, making the transfer of disease easier. For example, the sprawling suburbs of New York are putting deer, mice, ticks and people together, and the result is lyme disease.

In addition, we are traveling to more exotic places in the world and bringing our diseases to animals.

GEORGE SAPERSTEIN, TUFTS UNIV. SCHOOL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE: Primates, our nearest cousins are susceptible to many of the same diseases that we have, and there's a big concern about people going on tours in Africa and transmitting human influenza or human tuberculosis to primates, to non-human primates.

HOPKINS: Gorillas in Africa have picked up intestinal diseases from tourists, and those tourists coming back home from an exotic place may be carrying exotic diseases on the plane. Experts say there is no way to totally close our borders to keep disease out.

MARY PEARL, PRES., WILDLIFE THREAT: There's no border guard in the world who is going to recognize a small microbe in an asymptomatic person. Travel is so fast around the world that someone can be carrying a virus, but not showing symptoms and arrive in a new city in no time at all.

HOPKINS: Scientists like these at Columbia University examine the DNA from animals. Information they find can help determine which animals carry some of these emerging, infectious diseases, and according to some, there will be more to look for. PEARL: It's, in my opinion, it's inevitable that new viruses will emerge that will be as deadly as some of the scariest diseases, like Ebola and will be as contagious as SARS. And so I think that my biggest fear is not any of the diseases that have come so far, but ones that may emerge in the future.

HOPKINS (on camera): Scientists say that there is no way to completely eliminate risk from our busy lives. Like the threat of terrorism, this can be an invisible enemy.

Jan Hopkins, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson says that if left unchecked, today's emerging diseases could become the endemic diseases of tomorrow.

Secretary Thompson joins us tonight from our studios in Washington, D.C. Mr. Secretary, good to have you with us.

TOMMY THOMPSON, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECY.: Lou, it's always a pleasure to be with you, and congratulations on your new format.

DOBBS: Well, thank you, sir.

As Jan Hopkins just reported, a number of people believe that there is simply no way to prevent the ultimate disaster in infectious disease. Give us your assessment.

THOMPSON: Well, I think she's right. I think when you look at the fact that these microbes, these new viruses are mutating, you know, on a regular basis, so it's impossible to get ahead of them completely.

Secondly, a lot of these viruses are becoming very drug resistant.

And third, you know how much we travel around the world. We're going to pick up things and bring them back into our country.

What we have to be able to do is be able to respond much more quickly and better than we ever have before. And that's why CDC and NIH are such an effective tools to improve the public awareness, and, of course, our alert with regards to terrorism has really helped to improve our public health system. So we're doing a great job as far as responding, but in order to prevent it, it's almost impossible, Lou.

DOBBS: New global strategy. At the forefront, of course, the Centers for Disease Control. Are you -- are you satisfied that there is sufficient level of international cooperation. You mentioned travel, all of the various forms of transport and trade. Is it, in your judgment, sufficient?

THOMPSON: Well, it wasn't, and I still don't think it's as good as it can be or should be.

You know, the SARS problem, we had the big epidemic, because China wouldn't let us come in and see what was taking place. We got alerted to the SARS problem sometime in the early part of February, but we really never got in to really examine it until sometime in March. If we could have got in there with our wonderful experts and researchers at CDC, we could have possibly contained it. And CDC is just doing an outstanding job of being ability to determine how they viruses act, be able to map them and be able to come up with diagnostic tests.

But the truth of the matter is we need cooperation by the whole world community, and that's what the World Health Organization was set up to do. And I think they're doing a good job and they have asked for more support and more authority, and we just gave them that at the World Health Assembly about a month ago in Geneva.

DOBBS: The human toll is tragic. The economic costs, in the case of China, estimates run as high as a 2 percent reduction in their gross domestic product as a result of SARS. Is it, again in your best assessment -- is the China cooperation, communication with China now much improved? Is that behind us?

THOMPSON: Well, I think that the communication has improved considerably. There's no question about that. I've talked to the minister of health on several different occasions, met with her privately when we were in Geneva. She pledged China was not going to ever do this again.

But the truth of the matter is, you know, it's a totalitarian society. And if they feel it's important to keep it from us, they will do so. Hopefully they will not do it in the future, and I think the fact that SARS hurt them so badly economically, they're going to be very gun-shy in preventing us from getting the information that we request in the future. But only time will tell, Lou.

DOBBS: The SARS virus, it appears that we have escaped the most dreaded aspect of that disease. In point of fact, no deaths from the disease reported in this country. Monkeypox suddenly emerging in the Midwest, and more cases...

THOMPSON: My home state, Lou.

DOBBS: Indeed -- being reported this weekend, and again, fortunately, no deaths report to do this point.

The West Nile virus, however, is claiming lives, and that disease was introduced only four years ago. Give us your best assessment as we go into the summer months, mosquito season, how do you -- what is your consideration of West Nile virus and is enough being done to contain it, to prevent it?

THOMPSON: We certainly are expecting the worst, but hoping for the best, as always.

We have done a great of research at both CDC and NIH, and that research is paying dividends, but right now we don't have a vaccine or real treatment for these kinds of diseases as of yet. But we're working on them, Lou. And only time will give us the opportunity to accomplish that.

But West Nile virus, because of the tremendous amount of rain we've had, the kind of moisture that's in the fields, is going to will be great fertile breeding grounds for mosquitoes. We can expect that West Nile virus is going to hit the United States pretty hard this summer. Therefore, we're encouraging everybody when they go outside to make sure that they use insect repellent wherever they go, to be able to use long-sleeved shirts and blouses when they're out in the woods, and making sure that they are not around areas where insects and especially mosquitoes are, and we're encouraging cities and giving quite a bit of money to communities in order to eradicate the breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which is the best way to prevent the spread of West Nile virus.

DOBBS: Secretary Thompson, we thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate it.

THOMPSON: It's my privilege. Thank you, Lou.

DOBBS: Secretary Tommy Thompson.

Tomorrow, we continue our series of special reports on emerging diseases. Tomorrow night, we focus on monkeypox. Kitty Pilgrim will tell us exactly what kind of threat this latest disease poses, and the possible cures.

And a reminder to vote in tonight's poll: "What do you think of the recent stock market rally? Too much too soon? Down draft ahead? Just what we need? Or even more to come?" Please cast your vote at cnn.com/lou. We'll have the preliminary results for you in just a matter of moments.

When we continue, the annual Paris Air Show is one of the world's largest displays of the latest in military and aerospace hardware. But this year something is missing, and the French are crying foul.

And some of your thoughts on the risks associated with shipping U.S. jobs overseas and much more all ahead.

Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: At the box office this weekend, "Finding Nemo" recaptured the no. 1 spot. Disney and Pixar's animated fish tale reclaimed a top spot. Three-week told, $191 million. "Finding Nemo" pushed "2 Fast 2 Furious" into no. 2. "Bruce Almighty" and "Rugrats go Wild," followed "Hollywood Homicide" featuring Harrison Ford, debut at no. 5.

The Paris Air Show is well underway. But there is no large U.S. Presence as usual. The U.S. Government has been accused of snubbing the French by not sending senior staff to show. It's also been accused of encouraging U.S. companies not to attend, either.

Richard Quest reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Paris Air Show, home to the aerial acrobatics. This year, though, don't look for any U.S. top guns in the sky. The U.S. Government decided not to take part, even banning their generals from turning up. Another open secret that no one will admit and Washington denies is that U.S. companies were pressured to scale back their presence. It has cuts American participate here by at least a third. And left the Paris organizers turning some diplomatic cartwheels of their own.

YVES BONNET, PARIS AIRSHOW ORGANIZER: The reason giving to us were only economical reasons, and no political. I have nothing to say about my opinion about that.

QUEST: The problem is that the evidence is obvious. No top U.S. chief executive is here. Boeing denies it's been nobbled (ph) by the government.

JIM ALBAUGH, BOEING INTEGRATED DEF. SYSTEMS: The reason our size is down there year is because most of our customers are not here. And if our customers are not here from the Pentagon, we're not here.

QUEST (on camera): Cause and effect?

ALBAUGH: Cause and effect.

QUEST: The aviation industry is still in deep trouble, which makes this action by the American government all the more difficult to understand. It's because ultimately U.S. companies will feel the pinch.

KEIRAN DALY, FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL: You can't seriously say to a Lockheed Martin or Holywell don't sell your equipment to the Europeans. Anybody can understand that's bad news for the U.S.

QUEST: All of this is likely to leave a sour taste in both mouths, and shows there's still much diplomatic repair work to be done.

Richard Quest, CNN at the Paris Air Show.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Checking on the U.S. trade deficit. Tonight it is more than $232 billion now, it's rising at the rate of a billion and a half dollars a day. And by the way, the deficit with France is $9 billion.

When we continue we'll have the preliminary results of tonight's poll. Also, a look at some of your thoughts on negotiating peace in the Middle East and more. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DOBBS: Checking the results of tonight's poll. The question, "What do you think of the recent stock market rally?" Sixteen percent said too much too soon, 50 percent said downdraft ahead, 20 percent said just what we needed, 14 said even more to come.

And as I say, that is what makes markets.

Let's take a look at some of your thoughts.

Gary Melrose from of Claremont, Oklahoma, writing to say, "We are not in a jobless recovery, we are in an American jobless recovery as was pointed out by your show, companies in the United States are using every opportunity to move to jobs in India, China and Mexico." --

Charles Mobus of Warren, New Jersey, saying, "I like the phrase, 'negotiate a peace.' All of the weapons, money, education, jobs, food and wealthy supporters are on one side, the other side includes the poor, hungry, unwanted and powerless."

And on the issue of emerges diseases, James from Colorado said, "Importation represents a direct risk to the American public at large. Past history speaks for itself, kudsu, killer bees, fire ants, and now monkeypox. Why, when SARS broke out, did we not set up mandatory quarantines of all travelers from affected areas?"

We'd love to hear from you. Send us your thoughts from at loudobbs@cnn.com.

That's our broadcast for tonight. Thanks for being with us. Tomorrow we continue series of special reports on emerging diseases. We talk a look at monkeypox. And treasury secretary, John Snow, will join us to talk about tax cuts, the dollar and the future of this economy. Eric Schlosser author of "Reefer Madness," gives us an inside look at this countries black market. The under economy from pot to porn to illegal immigration. Please join us. For all of us here good night from New York.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Special Report on Emergence of New Diseases>


Aired June 16, 2003 - 18:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Monday, June 16. Here now Lou Dobbs.
LOU DOBBS, HOST: Tonight, new market highs for the year, a late spring rally lifts the S&P 500 above 1,000 for the first time since last summer. Susan Lisovicz will have the full market report for us.

Building port security at home and abroad, the Homeland Security Department has a new $300 million plan. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge joins us tonight.

And, monkeypox, SARS, the West Nile virus and Ebola. Tonight we begin a series of special reports on the emergence of these new and mysterious diseases and their cost in human and economic terms. Tonight, Jan Hopkins reports.

And, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is our guest.

Good evening everyone. Our top story tonight, U.S. troops are again in combat in Iraq. Operation Desert Scorpion is the boldest military operation in more than six weeks as several hundred troops swept through towns and villages west and north of Baghdad today.

Jamie McIntyre joins us from the Pentagon with the latest.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, the Pentagon, the U.S. military is following the old adage that the best defense is a good offense. It has been under sporadic attack now for weeks. It began last week when it kicked off the biggest operation since the war began and the latest phase is called Operation Desert Scorpion.

Under the plan, using U.S. informants, the U.S. is targeting people believed to be Ba'ath Party members or die-hard supporters of Saddam Hussein. It kicked off after a weapons amnesty expired and the sweep of neighborhoods and villages continue today. So far, more than 40 suspects have been rounded up in house-to-house searches.

Meanwhile, the ambushes continue. Today, someone places a mine in a tunnel apparently hoping to get a U.S. military convoy. A civilian taxi triggered it instead.

Yesterday, someone fired a rocket-propelled grenade at some U.S. soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division but apparently hit a civilian bus instead. During that confrontation two U.S. soldiers were seriously wounded, six others lightly wounded but the U.S. says it is getting the upper hand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. JACK HAMMOND, U.S. ARMY: Every day it's getting a little bit better at least on our side of it and we're able to take the initiative away from the bad guys. When we first got here we spent most of the time dodging bullets and RPGs that they were firing. Now, we're getting to kick in their doors and arrest them through the intelligence we've been getting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Another attack today wounded -- or rather yesterday wounded two U.S. soldiers slightly. So, the combat operations continue but the U.S. says they will continue to keep the pressure on Saddam Hussein loyalists until they're able to break the back of the resistance -- Lou.

DOBBS: Jamie the hearing for Sergeant Akbar who's accused of killing those two fellow soldiers in Kuwait with a grenade started today. What more can you tell us about that?

MCINTYRE: Well, this is a preliminary hearing which is like a civilian grand jury proceeding in which evidence is presented to see if they can go to court martial, and today at least two officers testified against Sergeant Akbar about the circumstances surrounding the incident in which he is accused of rolling grenades and, in fact, shooting some officers in an attack on March 23rd.

This proceeding will go on probably all week and will end up with a recommendation that most likely will result in a recommendation to go to trial. If convicted, Sergeant Akbar could receive the death penalty for these charges -- Lou.

DOBBS: Jamie, this appears to be taking some time to even go to this stage following the Iraqi war. Is there some reason for this seeming delay?

MCINTYRE: Well, it's not really a delay. It's basically the way the process works. There is some complication in that some of the witnesses in this case are still in Iraq. About two dozen or so will be testifying by video link-up. But this is the normal procedure to have this Article 32 hearing followed by a period of deliberation and then a full court martial if that's what's warranted.

DOBBS: Jamie, thank you very much, Jamie McIntyre, our Senior Pentagon Correspondent.

In the Middle East tonight, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is urging radical Islamist terrorists to end their attacks against Israel. Abbas visited Gaza hours after Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups met with Egyptian negotiators and rejected their calls for a cease-fire with Israel. Israel today also stepped away from calls for a truce. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel's assault on Hamas will continue as long as terrorism is rampaging.

White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has the latest for us -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, President Bush very much sounding like candidate Bush today earlier in Elizabeth, New Jersey, highlighting his domestic agenda. But the big focus, the big push now of course is getting the Middle East peace process back on track.

Now publicly, the White House is condemning extremists like Hamas, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer calling them rejectionists, but privately the Bush administration putting pressure on the key players, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

And today here at the White House, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Israelis, a chief of staff, the main message here Israel has every right to defend itself, but again they do not believe that these assassination attempts against Hamas are productive when it comes to these talks.

And again, of course, for the Palestinians that Hamas must have a cease-fire, the Palestinians given a chance, Abbas, to establish peace in those Palestinian regions.

I should also tell you, Lou, as well we heard very strong words from the president defending himself against the critics those who claim that the administration exaggerated these claims of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction the justification for invading Iraq in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This nation acted to a threat from the dictator of Iraq. Now there are some who would like to rewrite history, revisionist historians is what I like to call them. Saddam Hussein was a threat to America and the free world in '91, in '98, in 2003. He continually ignored the demands of the free world so the United States and friends and allies acted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And, Lou, now all sides simply say they are waiting for a brief relative period of calm before they move forward when it comes to the Middle East peace process -- Lou.

DOBBS: Suzanne, thank you very much, Suzanne Malveaux reporting from the White House.

The powerful forces of religion and history are at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but another powerful force is also at work in the region that of demographics. Increasingly, Israel is a small, aging nation with a declining birth rate, isolated by neighboring Arab states whose populations are skyrocketing and becoming ever younger.

Kitty Pilgrim now reports on the power of population, stagnation, and growth in shaping the future of the region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas of the world. Twenty percent of the Palestinian community in the West Bank and Gaza is under the age of five and the birth rate ranks among the highest in the world, and for some Palestinians the birth rate is a potent political tool.

JON ALTERMAN, CSIS: Many Palestinians see reproducing as the best thing they can do for the national cause and what the Palestinians have to do is have babies who will then go on and have more babies and have Palestinians and Arabs outnumber Israelis in Israel.

PILGRIM: It is a well-recognized fact in Israeli politics that if the West Bank and Gaza is annexed into Israel the demographics will create a single state that loses its Jewish majority by including three and a half million Palestinians. Any attempt by Jewish leaders to keep power would not be possible in a democratic political system, a point acknowledged by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak in a recent speech.

EHUD BARAK, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: If there is only one political unit called Israel, it will inevitably become either non- Jewish or non-Zionist.

PILGRIM: Without the West Bank and Gaza, however, Israel can maintain its Jewish national character. That's one reason why a Palestinian state makes sense to many politicians and scholars.

GEOFFREY ARONSON, FOUNDATION FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE: That would argue for Israel to withdraw its forces and its settlers from these occupied areas and then preserve in that way Israel's own demographic Jewish majority and in turn permit Palestinians to organize politically in a Palestinian state and therefore that would enable each community to grow and develop independently.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: Now, by contrast, in Israel the population growth rate runs basically flat. That includes Jewish immigration to Israel from other countries. It comes down to demographic reality. That can't be denied -- Lou.

DOBBS: And, immigration itself isn't that one way in which Israel can help itself?

PILGRIM: That was one big hope for Israel but basically they've had their influx from Soviet Jews who came in the 1990s and now it slowed to a much smaller crawl.

DOBBS: OK, Kitty Pilgrim, thank you very much.

Well, another potential threat to global security tonight, Iran's nuclear program. According to U.N. monitors Iran has failed to report all of its nuclear activity. The International Atomic Energy Agency today called on Tehran to allow further inspections of its nuclear power sites. The United States has long said Iran is using those sites to develop nuclear weapons, National Security Correspondent David Ensor reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The board of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency heard a closed door appeal from its director for the International Atomic Energy Agency to press Iran saying it has failed to report certain nuclear materials and activities as required by international law.

At the same time, European foreign ministers issued a statement calling on Tehran to urgently and unconditionally sign an additional agreement exposing it to surprise inspections of newly-revealed nuclear sites like the ones near Natanz and Iraq.

JEFF KEMP, NIXON CENTER: You now have the IAEA and the European Union talking from the same sheet as the United States on the issue of Iran's nuclear program. This is very important because ultimately that's how I think one can put pressure on this regime to delay, defer a nuclear weapons option.

ENSOR: The demonstrations of recent days are putting domestic pressure too on the regime in Tehran.

BUSH: This is the beginnings of people expressing themselves toward a free Iran which I think is positive.

ENSOR: In Tehran, officials called that comment "blatant interference" and Iranian officials accuse the U.S. of inciting the protests through satellite TV channels run by (unintelligible) Iranians. U.S. officials say the protests are homegrown Iranian.

RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: They don't have anything to do with the United States.

ENSOR: The new pressures on Tehran are welcomed in Washington but some analysts argue until quiet talks with the Iranian government are resumed, there may be no meaningful progress on the issues the U.S. cares about, curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions, its support for terrorists, and its interference in Iraq.

KEMP: It is madness not to talk to the regime. We can talk to them and be highly critical. We talked to the Soviet Union all through the worst points of the Cold War.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ENSOR: A couple of weeks ago sources indicated Iran might soon turn over some al Qaeda prisoners it has to their countries of origin, possibly Saudi Arabia or Egypt. Since then, the public silence in both Tehran and Washington on that important issue has been deafening -- Lou.

DOBBS: David, the other quiet aspect of this is the role of the Russian government here, their influence with Iran, how important, how likely it will be applied in a positive manner?

ENSOR: The U.S. is very much hoping to influence Russia, Lou, to refuse to supply uranium or nuclear fuel to the Bushehr reactor which the Russians are building in Iran unless and until the Iranians sign this additional protocol that the U.S. is pressing for Iran to sign.

Now, there was a statement by President Putin that he might insist on that but other Russian officials have said otherwise and it just isn't clear at this point where Russia is going to come down.

DOBBS: David, thank you very much, David Ensor our National Security Correspondent.

In Iran, security forces out in force as protests stretched into a seventh night. Students began protesting plans to privatize Tehran University a week ago. Those protests grew to demands that Iran's clerical leadership step down. Some teachers and other sympathizers have joined with the students in those protests. They have been attacked by security forces and pro-government vigilantes.

Still ahead here tonight, nickel and diming America, hidden fees and charges on your cell phone bill. If you aren't upset yet just wait until Peter Viles reports.

And, our series of special reports on emerging diseases from monkeypox to SARS, the link between animals and deadly diseases in humans. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is our special guest. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: The Supreme Court today upheld a ban on interest group donations to federal candidates. The ruling involved an anti-abortion group that argued not-for-profit advocacy groups should be able to make campaign donations because they rely primarily on individual donations. In a 7-2 decision, the high court rejected the argument.

Another note on political fund-raising, tonight President Bush named former Montana Governor Mark Racicot to head his 2004 reelection effort. The announcement comes as the president prepares to launch a record setting fund-raising swing. President Bush is expected to raise as much as $25 million by the end of this month.

On Wall Street today a stunning rally. Stocks rose for a fourth time over the five past sessions. The S&P 500 closed above 1,000 for the first time in almost a year. The Dow Jones Industrials soared 202 points. The NASDAQ gained 40. The S&P 500 up more than 22 points. Susan Lisovicz is here now with the market for us -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, you know, this is a market that has rallied in spite of bad news. Today we got terrific news and stocks took off. The catalyst for today's rally came before the opening bell. A surprisingly robust manufacturing report for New York state that bulls say forecast better times for that hard-hit sectors.

Pharmaceuticals in Vanguard with a study from Pfizer showing promising results from its cholesterol lowering drug Lipitor, Merck a Dow component one of 319 stocks at the NYSE hitting new 52-week highs. Only two hit new lows. In fact, every Dow 30 stock ended up on the day.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, says it's on track to meet its June sales targets even though demands for summer-related items, such as shorts and tank tops remains weak due to the unseasonably cool weather in some parts of the country.

The three major indices each ended more than two percent higher on the session, the Dow closing above 9,300 for the first time since July 5th of last year, up 11 percent this year. The NASDAQ at its highest level since May of 2002, now up 25 percent so far this year.

Lou, you'd be hard-pressed to find a negative in today's market but I did find one, volume slightly lower, 1.3 billion shares traded on the day. A year ago close to 1.6 billion.

DOBBS: That's a negative but the direction is still great.

LISOVICZ: It's very positive.

DOBBS: Susan, thank you very much, Susan Lisovicz on the market.

And that bring us to the subject of tonight's poll, what do you think of the recent stock market rally, too much too soon, downdraft ahead, just what we needed, or even more to come? You can vote at cnn.com/lou, preliminary results coming up later in the broadcast.

The final results of Friday's poll, the question "Should Israel stop its attacks on targets in Gaza," 58 percent of you said yes, 42 percent said no.

Checking our corporate America criminal scoreboard tonight, 73 executives in all of corporate America have now been charged, 18 of them are from Enron -- rather 16, excuse me. Sam Waksal is the only one sentenced to jail. It's now been 560 days since Enron filed for bankruptcy.

Checking on the national debt tonight as we do each night, it stands at almost $6,600,000,000,000 tonight. The debt has risen by more than $40 billion so far this month.

When we continue, hidden charges, the nickel and diming of America in your cell phone bills, Peter Viles breaks down the hidden fees buried in your bill and you may not want to turn to the government for protection. He'll tell us why.

And, unsafe harbors, dangerous gaps in port security and what's being done to close those gaps. We'll be talking with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: When is a good deal not a good deal? Chances are when it's the advertised price of cell phone service. The price you pay is often 20 percent higher partly because phone companies are disguising the cost of some business to look like government imposed fees, but that's just part of the real story behind those unexpectedly high bills, Peter Viles reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cell phone service $45 a month but there is a catch actually, there are 13 catches, all those extra fees at the bottom of the bill. Now, politicians will tell you it's the phone company adding on surcharges and disguising them as taxes. Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon recently sued Sprint and Nextel.

JAY NIXON, ATTORNEY GENERAL, MISSOURI: The overall trend her is it's a competitive industry and they're trying to make money by being deceptive in what their billing practices are.

VILES: But here's what the politicians won't tell you. Most of those charges really are government taxes and fees because the government loves to tax cell phone use.

SAM SIMON, TELECOM RESEARCH & ACTION CTR.: The real problem is the taxes. It's a hard thing to say because local governments need money sources but the amount of taxes on phone bills, whether it's wireless or wire lined have in some instances gotten to as much as 30 and 40 percent of the bill.

VILES: Look at this Sprint bill from New York, a local wireless tax, a federal tax, a city sales tax, a state sales tax, a state wireless 9-1-1 surcharge, a local wireless 9-1-1 surcharge, and there's more, a special local fee, a local surcharge, a state gross receipts tax, a state excise tax, plus a federal universal service fund charge.

That is 11 government charges and they add 22.6 percent to this bill and it's not as if other industries are hit just as hard. Cable TV taxes, for example, average in the five to six percent range.

STEVEN BARRY, CTIA: The wireless industry is the new kid on the block and we're an easy target and unfortunately until consumers realize that they're going to have to tell their state and local officials that enough is enough, we'll continue to see increased taxes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VILES: Now, those who would like to roll back some of these taxes, well good luck. The basic phone tax in this country a three percent excise tax was supposed to be temporary and that was 105 years ago. It was first collected 1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American Civil War and it's still on your bill today -- Lou.

DOBBS: And we won that as I recall.

VILES: We did.

DOBBS: All right, Pete, thank you very much, Peter Viles.

Well coming up next here safe harbor, protecting this nation's ports from attack. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will join us to discuss the progress against terrorism at our ports and other threats that remain.

Later, emerging diseases, deadly viruses, and no cures, tonight we begin a series of special reports. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is our guest. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Tonight, a Roman Catholic bishop is under arrest in connection with a fatal hit and run accident. Phoenix, Arizona Bishop Thomas O'Brien was arrested after police traced a license plate number to his car. Police were investigating the death of a man Saturday who had been by two cars.

Bishop O'Brien was charged with leaving the scene of the fatal accident. Earlier this month, O'Brien relinquished some of his authority in a deal with prosecutors. That agreement spared him from indictment on obstruction charges for protecting pedophile priests.

In other news across America tonight, crime is falling but some violent crimes are on the rise. The nation's violent crime rate fell nearly one and a half percent last year. The FBI says the number of murders rose about one percent. Forcible rape shot up four percent.

The woman who was the public face of the Pentagon during the war against Saddam Hussein is resigning her post. Victoria Clarke said she's stepping down for personal reasons.

The ringleader of an immigrant smuggling ring is in federal custody tonight. Twenty-five-year-old Carla Chavez is accused of leading the operation that left 100 people trapped inside a sweltering tractor trailer in Texas last month. Nineteen of those people died.

The Bush administration says it's committing to the protection of our borders by land and by sea with an expanded emphasis on the nation's ports. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge recently awarded $170 million in security grants to U.S. seaports.

Secretary Ridge also unveiled a plan to screen more cargo in foreign ports before it leaves for this country. Secretary Ridge says that will make our ports and borders the last line of defense not the first. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge joins us now from the "Money" magazine summit in Midtown Manhattan, Mr. Secretary good to have you with us.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Lou, it's very nice to join you again.

DOBBS: The money that you authorized last week for heightened security at our ports is it sufficient?

RIDGE: Lou, I think it is a very significant down payment. I don't think anyone in Washington believes that there won't be additional dollars available for port security but I think it's reflective of a much broader approach than simply securing the ports here.

I think all of us would agree, whether you'd been in the military or not, that one of the most important things we can do is push our perimeter out as far as possible. And so, the fact that we would be engaging with right now 20 partners around the world to generate about 68 percent of the container traffic that we are checking out the cargo and the crew in these ports under our container security initiative is the way to go.

DOBBS: The bulk of that money going to the nation's largest ports understandably but where does that leave the medium-sized ports around the country? Are you planning further funds for those ports?

RIDGE: Lou, I think ultimately we will be working with the Coast Guard and providing security assessments and vulnerability assessments around the country. The additional dollars will flow in part, I think, from additional federal dollars I presume in the 2004 budget and beyond.

But at some point in time, we need to have a public discussion as to where, whether it's port security or elsewhere, do we look to the private sector to help us secure this critical infrastructure.

DOBBS: You recently suggested that the color-coded alert system doesn't meet your standards, you're not satisfied with it.

What do you have in mind as an improvement?

RIDGE: Well, first of all, I think it's very important that the nation has begun to understand that the national threat warning system is really a signal to the professionals, it's a signal to the law enforcement communities, to those in the public and private sector responsible for securing people and buildings and venues. But I think it's been in operation for a year. I believe that even today, as you and I speak, we are at a yellow level. It's an elevated level of risk to attack. We are far stronger today at this level and far better prepared today than we were a year ago. I think a year from now, yellow will mean even greater protection and security. So I think it's been in existence for a year, we've got to go back and take a look at it and see if we can find ways to make it better.

DOBBS: So you're planning to change it then?

RIDGE: We're going to take a good honest look at it and talk to the law enforcement people around the country. I think it's very important for people to understand that this is really a signal to them, just as a traffic light signals different kinds of conduct, hopefully this is a national signal based on our threat analysis that they need to do additional things to be prepared for a greater or enhanced possibility of risk. We'll work to see if there are adjustments needed.

DOBBS: As you know better than any of us, Mr. Secretary, much of this burden falls upon local first responders, fire departments, emergency, medical technicians, obviously the police department.

Is -- do you have plans to provide more resources, more funding for local and county governments and those first responders as a part of your plan going forward?

RIDGE: Lou, the president, with strong bipartisan support by Congress, has authorized, and they now have appropriated, and we literally have in the pipeline as you and I are speaking this evening, an excess of $4 billion that will go to the states and locals, to the first preventers or the first responders. If Congress embraces the president's request for an additional $3.5 billion to state and local governments, we will have seen an infusion of nearly $8 billion to these political partners. The other side of that equation is, while the department is very interested in appropriations and inputs, we're also interested in outcomes. We want to make sure the dollars for every security dollar spent, we get a dollar's worth of enhanced protection.

DOBBS: Give us your sense, if we may in conclusion, to where the United States stands today through your eyes and your eyes, of course, are among the best-informed in the country, in terms of the terrorist threat.

How much better or worse we should feel about the state of terrorist threats against this country?

RIDGE: Well, I think the extraordinary success of the military and the CIA and the FBI domestically, we've certainly disrupted, if not apprehended their organization, the terrorist organization, particularly al Qaeda, frozen assets. And I think there's been a real demonstrable impact on how they operate and how they plan. But having said that, I think because we also know this is an organization that's very decentralized, that they have opportunities. I mean, we are still the primary target, that we still need to be very aware and very vigilant.

That's why we remain at an elevated level of risk. But I must say it's not just what the federal government has done. I get a chance to see this country strategically at very high level, say 40,000 feet, but I can go to the ports and talk to the mayors and talk to the police chiefs and fire chiefs. And every day since 9/11 this country becomes stronger and more secure. And I that's our goal within the department and think that's the goal around the country. We will prevail at the war, but at the end of every day, we want to make sure we're at a higher level of readiness and higher level a security, than when we turned the lights and we walked into the office that morning. on that morning. I think American is doing that and we'll continue to do it.

DOBBS: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge.

RIDGE: Nice to be with you this evening. Thank you.

DOBBS: That brings us to our "Quote of the Day" from another Bush administration official who today spoke on the campaign to wipe on you terrorist worldwide.

"We cannot allow ourselves to grow complacent. We cannot forget that the terrorist remain determined to kill as many Americans as possible and they are still seeking weapons of mass destruction, chemical, biological and nuclear weapons to us against us." Vice President Dick Cheney.

California lawmakers once again missed their deadline to pass a state budget. The California legislature deadlocked over how to close the $38 billion deficit, the largest of any state in this country. The rising deficit is at the heart of a massive effort to recall the governor of California, Gray Davis.

Casey Wian has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the hottest autograph in California these days at shopping centers and over the Internet, 700,000 voters have signed petitions to recall the Governor Gray Davis according to recall supporters. With 200,000 more, voters will have the chance to remove Davis from office as early as this fall. Californians have try to recall governors 31 times before, all unsuccessfully. But this time the state is in political choas.

SHERRY BEBITCH JEFFE, USC: You've got the ideological extremes in there. I mean, this is a perfect storm of destabilization of government of the total wackiness of democracy.

WIAN: Recall supporters blame Davis for the state's energy crisis, economic downturn and budget deficit. They accuse him of downplaying the financial plight to win reelection last year.

SAL RUSSO, RECALLGRAYDAVIS.COM: We now it's 38 billion deficit and voters were truly outraged because they were lied to. In California we have the initiative, the referred, the recall so there's accountable.

WIANS: According to a public policy poll, hits approval rating is 28 percent the lowest in state history, and more than half of likely voters support recalling the governor. Despite those numbers, Davis supporters dismiss the recall effort as a partisan power grab largely financed by Darryl Issa, a wealthy U.S. congressman with his sights on the governs Mansion.

DAN TERRY, TAXPAYERS AGAINST THE RECALL: Almost 7 million people voted in the last governor's race, so seven months later we're now going to have 900,000 undo those results? That is not democracy, that is anarchy.

WIAN: Even Davis opponents admit, anarchy may aptly describes what could follow a recall. Voters would choose a new a governor at the same time and the field is wide open. Besides Issa, potential candidates include Republican activist Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. Lesser knows are likely to run as well with a legitimate shot at victor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

But California politics are already close to anarchy. Lawmakers, as mentioned Lou, missed the deadline to pass the budget, so the states 38 billion deficit keeps growing. Any candidates who succeed in taking a shortcut to Sacramento will have a huge mess to clean up -- Lou.

DOBBS: It makes you wonder why people want the job.

Where does Governor Davis stand on the recall effort?

How close are they to having that recall petition signed?

WIAN: They're only 200,000 signatures away. The recall supporters hope they'll get that by the end of next month, which would put the issue on the ballot in the fall, and would result in a special election. Governor Davis was initially pretty silent throughout the whole recall campaign, lately though he's been speaking out, calling it a waste of taxpayers' money. And I should point out that his office decline a request from us to interview him on this subject -- Lou.

DOBBS: Casey, thank you very much. Casey Wian reporting from Los Angeles tonight.

Turning now to our "Thought of the Day," on the one constant in life.

Nothing is permanent but change." From Heractillus.

Still ahead here, emerging diseases, our series of special reports on the alarming surge in new deadly diseases. Jan Hopkins will have the report and Health and Human Service Secretary Tommy Thompson will join us.

And the fall out over French opposition to the war in Iraq continues to cause some controversy. And the latest even to feel the heat the Paris Air Show.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DOBBS: Tonight we begin a special series of reports on emerging diseases this week.

It seems as if every week we have a new disease to report. Health and Human Services Director Tommy Thompson says infectious diseases are the third leading cause of death in this country. Tonight, Jan Hopkins takes a look at where those emerging diseases are originating and why they are here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAN HOPKINS, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mask of SARS, the scar of monkeypox, the bite of West Nile virus. All of these diseases have a connection to animals. It's the pet prairie dog for monkeypox, it may be an exotic animal in a Chinese market that first spread SARS, and it's the mosquito for the West Nile.

Researchers say of the 30 new, emerging, infectious diseases, three-quarters come from animals. So did the AIDS virus.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: HIV-AIDS itself is a disease, a viral disease that jumped species from an animal, a chimpanzee, to humans. And it was the humans going into the jungle, slaughtering animals for food that ultimately put them into contact with the virus that causes HIV.

HOPKINS: Animals and mankind are living closer together, making the transfer of disease easier. For example, the sprawling suburbs of New York are putting deer, mice, ticks and people together, and the result is lyme disease.

In addition, we are traveling to more exotic places in the world and bringing our diseases to animals.

GEORGE SAPERSTEIN, TUFTS UNIV. SCHOOL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE: Primates, our nearest cousins are susceptible to many of the same diseases that we have, and there's a big concern about people going on tours in Africa and transmitting human influenza or human tuberculosis to primates, to non-human primates.

HOPKINS: Gorillas in Africa have picked up intestinal diseases from tourists, and those tourists coming back home from an exotic place may be carrying exotic diseases on the plane. Experts say there is no way to totally close our borders to keep disease out.

MARY PEARL, PRES., WILDLIFE THREAT: There's no border guard in the world who is going to recognize a small microbe in an asymptomatic person. Travel is so fast around the world that someone can be carrying a virus, but not showing symptoms and arrive in a new city in no time at all.

HOPKINS: Scientists like these at Columbia University examine the DNA from animals. Information they find can help determine which animals carry some of these emerging, infectious diseases, and according to some, there will be more to look for. PEARL: It's, in my opinion, it's inevitable that new viruses will emerge that will be as deadly as some of the scariest diseases, like Ebola and will be as contagious as SARS. And so I think that my biggest fear is not any of the diseases that have come so far, but ones that may emerge in the future.

HOPKINS (on camera): Scientists say that there is no way to completely eliminate risk from our busy lives. Like the threat of terrorism, this can be an invisible enemy.

Jan Hopkins, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson says that if left unchecked, today's emerging diseases could become the endemic diseases of tomorrow.

Secretary Thompson joins us tonight from our studios in Washington, D.C. Mr. Secretary, good to have you with us.

TOMMY THOMPSON, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECY.: Lou, it's always a pleasure to be with you, and congratulations on your new format.

DOBBS: Well, thank you, sir.

As Jan Hopkins just reported, a number of people believe that there is simply no way to prevent the ultimate disaster in infectious disease. Give us your assessment.

THOMPSON: Well, I think she's right. I think when you look at the fact that these microbes, these new viruses are mutating, you know, on a regular basis, so it's impossible to get ahead of them completely.

Secondly, a lot of these viruses are becoming very drug resistant.

And third, you know how much we travel around the world. We're going to pick up things and bring them back into our country.

What we have to be able to do is be able to respond much more quickly and better than we ever have before. And that's why CDC and NIH are such an effective tools to improve the public awareness, and, of course, our alert with regards to terrorism has really helped to improve our public health system. So we're doing a great job as far as responding, but in order to prevent it, it's almost impossible, Lou.

DOBBS: New global strategy. At the forefront, of course, the Centers for Disease Control. Are you -- are you satisfied that there is sufficient level of international cooperation. You mentioned travel, all of the various forms of transport and trade. Is it, in your judgment, sufficient?

THOMPSON: Well, it wasn't, and I still don't think it's as good as it can be or should be.

You know, the SARS problem, we had the big epidemic, because China wouldn't let us come in and see what was taking place. We got alerted to the SARS problem sometime in the early part of February, but we really never got in to really examine it until sometime in March. If we could have got in there with our wonderful experts and researchers at CDC, we could have possibly contained it. And CDC is just doing an outstanding job of being ability to determine how they viruses act, be able to map them and be able to come up with diagnostic tests.

But the truth of the matter is we need cooperation by the whole world community, and that's what the World Health Organization was set up to do. And I think they're doing a good job and they have asked for more support and more authority, and we just gave them that at the World Health Assembly about a month ago in Geneva.

DOBBS: The human toll is tragic. The economic costs, in the case of China, estimates run as high as a 2 percent reduction in their gross domestic product as a result of SARS. Is it, again in your best assessment -- is the China cooperation, communication with China now much improved? Is that behind us?

THOMPSON: Well, I think that the communication has improved considerably. There's no question about that. I've talked to the minister of health on several different occasions, met with her privately when we were in Geneva. She pledged China was not going to ever do this again.

But the truth of the matter is, you know, it's a totalitarian society. And if they feel it's important to keep it from us, they will do so. Hopefully they will not do it in the future, and I think the fact that SARS hurt them so badly economically, they're going to be very gun-shy in preventing us from getting the information that we request in the future. But only time will tell, Lou.

DOBBS: The SARS virus, it appears that we have escaped the most dreaded aspect of that disease. In point of fact, no deaths from the disease reported in this country. Monkeypox suddenly emerging in the Midwest, and more cases...

THOMPSON: My home state, Lou.

DOBBS: Indeed -- being reported this weekend, and again, fortunately, no deaths report to do this point.

The West Nile virus, however, is claiming lives, and that disease was introduced only four years ago. Give us your best assessment as we go into the summer months, mosquito season, how do you -- what is your consideration of West Nile virus and is enough being done to contain it, to prevent it?

THOMPSON: We certainly are expecting the worst, but hoping for the best, as always.

We have done a great of research at both CDC and NIH, and that research is paying dividends, but right now we don't have a vaccine or real treatment for these kinds of diseases as of yet. But we're working on them, Lou. And only time will give us the opportunity to accomplish that.

But West Nile virus, because of the tremendous amount of rain we've had, the kind of moisture that's in the fields, is going to will be great fertile breeding grounds for mosquitoes. We can expect that West Nile virus is going to hit the United States pretty hard this summer. Therefore, we're encouraging everybody when they go outside to make sure that they use insect repellent wherever they go, to be able to use long-sleeved shirts and blouses when they're out in the woods, and making sure that they are not around areas where insects and especially mosquitoes are, and we're encouraging cities and giving quite a bit of money to communities in order to eradicate the breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which is the best way to prevent the spread of West Nile virus.

DOBBS: Secretary Thompson, we thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate it.

THOMPSON: It's my privilege. Thank you, Lou.

DOBBS: Secretary Tommy Thompson.

Tomorrow, we continue our series of special reports on emerging diseases. Tomorrow night, we focus on monkeypox. Kitty Pilgrim will tell us exactly what kind of threat this latest disease poses, and the possible cures.

And a reminder to vote in tonight's poll: "What do you think of the recent stock market rally? Too much too soon? Down draft ahead? Just what we need? Or even more to come?" Please cast your vote at cnn.com/lou. We'll have the preliminary results for you in just a matter of moments.

When we continue, the annual Paris Air Show is one of the world's largest displays of the latest in military and aerospace hardware. But this year something is missing, and the French are crying foul.

And some of your thoughts on the risks associated with shipping U.S. jobs overseas and much more all ahead.

Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: At the box office this weekend, "Finding Nemo" recaptured the no. 1 spot. Disney and Pixar's animated fish tale reclaimed a top spot. Three-week told, $191 million. "Finding Nemo" pushed "2 Fast 2 Furious" into no. 2. "Bruce Almighty" and "Rugrats go Wild," followed "Hollywood Homicide" featuring Harrison Ford, debut at no. 5.

The Paris Air Show is well underway. But there is no large U.S. Presence as usual. The U.S. Government has been accused of snubbing the French by not sending senior staff to show. It's also been accused of encouraging U.S. companies not to attend, either.

Richard Quest reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Paris Air Show, home to the aerial acrobatics. This year, though, don't look for any U.S. top guns in the sky. The U.S. Government decided not to take part, even banning their generals from turning up. Another open secret that no one will admit and Washington denies is that U.S. companies were pressured to scale back their presence. It has cuts American participate here by at least a third. And left the Paris organizers turning some diplomatic cartwheels of their own.

YVES BONNET, PARIS AIRSHOW ORGANIZER: The reason giving to us were only economical reasons, and no political. I have nothing to say about my opinion about that.

QUEST: The problem is that the evidence is obvious. No top U.S. chief executive is here. Boeing denies it's been nobbled (ph) by the government.

JIM ALBAUGH, BOEING INTEGRATED DEF. SYSTEMS: The reason our size is down there year is because most of our customers are not here. And if our customers are not here from the Pentagon, we're not here.

QUEST (on camera): Cause and effect?

ALBAUGH: Cause and effect.

QUEST: The aviation industry is still in deep trouble, which makes this action by the American government all the more difficult to understand. It's because ultimately U.S. companies will feel the pinch.

KEIRAN DALY, FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL: You can't seriously say to a Lockheed Martin or Holywell don't sell your equipment to the Europeans. Anybody can understand that's bad news for the U.S.

QUEST: All of this is likely to leave a sour taste in both mouths, and shows there's still much diplomatic repair work to be done.

Richard Quest, CNN at the Paris Air Show.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Checking on the U.S. trade deficit. Tonight it is more than $232 billion now, it's rising at the rate of a billion and a half dollars a day. And by the way, the deficit with France is $9 billion.

When we continue we'll have the preliminary results of tonight's poll. Also, a look at some of your thoughts on negotiating peace in the Middle East and more. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DOBBS: Checking the results of tonight's poll. The question, "What do you think of the recent stock market rally?" Sixteen percent said too much too soon, 50 percent said downdraft ahead, 20 percent said just what we needed, 14 said even more to come.

And as I say, that is what makes markets.

Let's take a look at some of your thoughts.

Gary Melrose from of Claremont, Oklahoma, writing to say, "We are not in a jobless recovery, we are in an American jobless recovery as was pointed out by your show, companies in the United States are using every opportunity to move to jobs in India, China and Mexico." --

Charles Mobus of Warren, New Jersey, saying, "I like the phrase, 'negotiate a peace.' All of the weapons, money, education, jobs, food and wealthy supporters are on one side, the other side includes the poor, hungry, unwanted and powerless."

And on the issue of emerges diseases, James from Colorado said, "Importation represents a direct risk to the American public at large. Past history speaks for itself, kudsu, killer bees, fire ants, and now monkeypox. Why, when SARS broke out, did we not set up mandatory quarantines of all travelers from affected areas?"

We'd love to hear from you. Send us your thoughts from at loudobbs@cnn.com.

That's our broadcast for tonight. Thanks for being with us. Tomorrow we continue series of special reports on emerging diseases. We talk a look at monkeypox. And treasury secretary, John Snow, will join us to talk about tax cuts, the dollar and the future of this economy. Eric Schlosser author of "Reefer Madness," gives us an inside look at this countries black market. The under economy from pot to porn to illegal immigration. Please join us. For all of us here good night from New York.

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Special Report on Emergence of New Diseases>