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Lou Dobbs Tonight

Campaigns Focus on Domestic Issues; Radical Islamist Terrorists Use Religion as Justification; Los Angeles Illiteracy Report; Hurricane Ivan Barrels Towards Jamaica; Interview with Sen. Bob Graham

Aired September 09, 2004 - 18:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, the Bush-Cheney and Kerry- Edwards campaigns focus on critical domestic issues and try to avoid controversy over their lives three-and-a-half decades ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the past year, we've added 1.7 million jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN F. KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Affordable, accessible healthcare to all Americans. Number one priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOBBS: Sharp criticism tonight of the president's handling of the wear on terror. I'll be joined by Democratic Senator Bob Graham. He says America is no safer now than before September 11. He's our guest.

A stunning statement about the war on terror. A top Saudi journalist claims radical Islamist clerics were using religion to justify the murder of innocent civilians. I'll be joined by Daniel Benjamin, author of "The Age of Sacred Terror."

Shocking new figures tonight on illiteracy in America. More than half the working age population of one of this country's biggest cities can't read even simple forms. Massive illegal immigration part of the reason.

Democratic Congressman Jim Turner says there is a crisis in our border security. Congressman Turner is our guest.

And another huge hurricane has Florida in its sights. Winds exceeding 160 miles an hour. Hurricane Ivan has already devastated Grenada. It is set to hit the islands of Jamaica and Cuba. The Florida Keys have been ordered evacuated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: This has been an incredible month. (END VIDEO CLIP)

DOBBS: Tonight, we address the question of whether killer hurricanes are now the norm.

ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Thursday, September 9. Here now for an hour of news, debate and opinion is Lou Dobbs.

DOBBS: Good evening.

Tonight, President Bush and Senator Kerry was putting a new emphasis on critical domestic issues. The presidential candidates are fighting to win battleground states. They're trying to turn voter attention at the same time from the controversy surrounding their military service. In Pennsylvania, President Bush declared his tax cuts have helped revive our economically.

We begin our coverage tonight in Iowa with the Kerry campaign. Ed Henry has the report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KERRY: This is my second home.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Kerry turned to Iowa where he started his astonishing comeback in the primaries. He returned now to kickstart his struggling general election campaign.

KERRY: George W. Bush chose a great big tax cut for the people literally, and then 30 percent of this thing went to people earning more than a million bucks. And we're telling kids and families we're cutting your after school program. That's W, wrong choice, wrong direction, wrong leadership for this country, and that's what we're going to change.

HENRY: While Kerry's allies ramp up their attacks on President Bush's service in the National Guard, the candidate is dodging questions about the controversy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did President Bush fulfill his National Guard obligations?

HENRY: But Kerry could not stop talking about his healthcare plan at Wednesday's stop in Des Moines.

KERRY: If you make me president of the United States, on day one, within whatever number of hours I'm allowed to do it, I am sending a bill to Congress to provide affordable, accessible healthcare to all Americans. Number one priority.

HENRY: After the swift boat controversy and Kerry's drop in the polls, Democrats like Bill Clinton wanted the senator to focus less on Vietnam and more on domestic issues, like two new ads unveiled by Kerry in Pennsylvania, while the president campaigned in that battleground state. ANNOUNCER: John Kerry. A real plan to strengthen Medicare and lower health-care costs.

HENRY: ... this town hall meeting, and it turned into a light moment. A woman praised the candidate for saving people in war and rescuing a hamster in the Kerry home, which was recounted at the Democratic Convention.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a stark contrast because he watched it, you know, from the Bush twins that the Bush hamster did not make it.

KERRY: Is that a metaphor or a prophecy?

HENRY (on camera): The Kerry camp says it has nothing to do with the Texans for Truth ads which accuse the president of being AWOL, but Bush advisers charge that this attack has been coordinated with Kerry. Republicans note that the senator spent days denouncing the swift boat ads, but, thus far, has been silent about the anti-Bush ones.

Ed Henry, CNN, Des Moines, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: President Bush today accused Senator Kerry of having a secret plan to raise taxes. White House Correspondent Dana Bash is traveling with President Bush and joins me from Johnstown, Pennsylvania -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, you know, this is the president's 36th trip to Pennsylvania, a state that he won that he lost narrowly to Al Gore last time around. He's been here so much. It's actually the 9th of the month, and he's been here three times already this month. He even joked about that at his two stops today.

And what he did here is change his stump speech a little bit to really focus on economic issues, pocketbook issues, expanded a little bit on the domestic proposals that he first talked about at his convention in New York, talked about these issues and -- like health savings accounts, job training and, of course, tax cuts.

And he took a swipe at his opponent, John Kerry, for saying that he voted several times in the Senate to raise taxes and, also, said that his current spending proposals are so big that he -- essentially, he thinks he's got a secret plan to raise taxes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: He said, oh, it's simple. We'll just tax the rich. There's two problems with that. One is that you can't raise enough money by taxing the rich to pay for $2 trillion. There's a gap between what he promises and what he says he's going to do. Guess who usually has to fill that gap? Yes.

Here's the other problem. You've heard that rhetoric before. Oh, don't worry. We'll just tax the rich. They hire lawyers and accountants and dodge. You get stuck with the bill. We're not going to let him tax you. We're going to win in November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now the Kerry campaign says that they're simply talking about repealing just the top tax cuts, and that is really on the most wealthy Americans. They also say what the president is doing is trying to deflect the fact that on his watch we have the highest deficits in history.

Now what the president is doing with this message here is trying to appeal to moderate Republicans both here in the suburb of Pittsburgh and earlier in the suburb of Philadelphia.

Those moderate Republicans, many of them, did not vote for the president. They voted Democrat last time around. So, Mr. Bush is trying to woo them back by talking about traditional Republican issues, that he thinks that they should focus on the fact that he wants to lower government regulation, while John Kerry wants to raise government regulation.

And also, Lou, this is a state that voters really do care about the economy, and Mr. Bush, polls show, is losing to John Kerry on economic issues here -- Lou.

DOBBS: Dana Bash.

Thank you very much.

Pollsters agree that President Bush has enjoyed a bounce in the opinion polls after the Republican National Convention here in New York. But the scale of that bounce has been far from clear until now.

With that story, here's Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Where does the presidential race stand? For that, we do a poll of polls.

Two national polls interviewed registered voters after the Republican Convention ended. The CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows a near tie. The CBS News poll shows Bush with an eight-point lead. "TIME" and "Newsweek" polled at least some voters during the convention. "TIME" has Bush ahead by eight. "Newsweek" has Bush leading by 11. Very different leads for Bush.

But in three of the four polls, President Bush's support is right around 50. Bottom line: Every national poll shows Bush gaining, and every national poll shows Bush now ahead, though sometimes by a narrow margin.

There have been polls in eight states either during or since the Republican Convention. Let's look at three battleground states Bush carried in 2000. Missouri went for Bush by three points in 2000. A post-convention poll shows Bush leading by 14. Last time, Bush won Ohio by four. He's now ahead by eight. Arizona gave Bush a five-point lead in 2000. He's now ahead by 16. Three red states getting redder.

Now let's look at some states that voted for Al Gore in 20000. Pennsylvania gave Gore a four-point victory. The latest Pennsylvania poll has Bush ahead by one. New Jersey gave Gore a whopping 16-point victory over Bush. A new poll shows Kerry's lead shrinking to just two. Oregon was a squeaker last time. Gore by half a percent. It's still a squeaker. Bush up by one. New Mexico was also a squeaker in 2000. Gore won by less than a tenth of a percent. Now Bush leads by three. Four blue states now in doubt.

But Democrats are holding on pretty well in Washington State. Al Gore won Washington by six points. Kerry is now eight points up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: OK. Here's one more. ABC News and "The Washington Post" just released their new national poll. It shows Bush 50, Kerry 44 among registered voters, very consistent with the other results. Bush clearly has momentum coming out of his party's convention.

For the first time all year, it's fair to say this campaign has a front-runner -- Lou.

DOBBS: Bill, fascinating analysis, and the bounce that the president is enjoying following the convention -- is it just about what the Republican National Committee, the leaders of the Republican Party expected following that convention?

SCHNEIDER: Well, they probably expected a little bit more, actually. The bounce was two or three points in most of those polls. They might have been hoping for a little bit more like seven or eight.

But look, they're happy with what they've got because -- You know what? -- the Democrats got no bounce from their convention. The problem is there are few swing voters out there, and, if there are very few swingers, there's not going to be much bouncing.

DOBBS: OK. Bill Schneider, as always, thank you.

Turning now to Iraq. American troops and aircraft today launched offensive operations in three cities that are controlled by Iraqi insurgents. U.S. aircraft bombed suspected enemy positions in Fallujah for a third straight day. Fighter aircraft also launched air strikes against the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar crossing into Iraq from Syria.

American and Iraqi troops set up checkpoints trying to stop terrorists from leaving and to prevent insurgents reinforcing that town.

In central Iraq, American and Iraqi troops entered the City of Samara for the first time in months. They're obviously trying to regain control of the stronghold.

Joining me now in Grange on Point tonight, General David Grange.

General, the fact we are watching this level of operations pick up now, the number of strikes that have increased against U.S. troops, what do you make of it?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: What I think is the surge has been going on, and it's going to pick up, Lou, especially with the American elections coming up, the interim government trying to get some credibility, elections ongoing in Afghanistan right now.

It's an insurgent surge. They know what's going on in the headlines, and they know that it's a critical time for them to pick up their efforts. Counter to that, coalition forces, those Iraqi forces that are trained are going on the offensive as well.

DOBBS: General, does this suggest a critical mistake on the part of military strategy, our leaders in Iraq, that the strikes against U.S. troops have risen to 80 a day and that there a number of strongholds that are simply in the outright control of insurgents.

GRANGE: Well, there are several cities where a good part of the city is under the control, or part of it, of insurgent terrorist groups, and the coalition, the Iraqi government must --- and I believe will -- take them back.

The question is then timing. It's tied, again, to elections. It's tied to -- the main reason -- the main concern is the Iraqi military, having a critical force that can, in fact, lead the way and fight effectively on their own, and that takes some time.

DOBBS: It takes some time. General Richard Myers says it will take at least a year to have a full force of Iraqis competent enough to preserve their own security.

Let's talk about this, set aside politics and international policy for a moment. Let's talk about the lives of our troops who are at risk in Iraq. What should the United States military be doing to make certain that our losses are as little as possible?

GRANGE: Well, the number of losses we have to date going over a thousand has nothing to do with capability of the U.S. forces. Very capable, obviously. And a thousand is really not significant to 500 or 100 or even a loss of one American G.I. A loss of one G.I., obviously, means that you are committed to winning. If not, we shouldn't be there.

And so, what it means is that the U.S. is going to continue to support the coalition and the interim Iraqi government to take down the insurgents. But it's a counterinsurgency, a tough fight which takes time, and, again, the training of Iraqi soldiers to join a fray in bigger numbers is critical to that success.

DOBBS: You point to the issue of winning. Leaving Samara, Fallujah, a number of other towns in Iraq in the control of insurgents, now taking offensive action against them, allowing Muqtada al-Sadr to return to his stronghold, the town of al-Sadr about two million people strong within Baghdad itself. At what point do we define winning in a new way?

GRANGE: Well, the key thing here is, Lou, that they should never have given up Fallujah or the Sadr Army in Najaf when they had them. They should have held them by the nose and defeated them when they had the chance. Now it's going to be a tougher fight, and they're going to have to do it eventually, and the longer you wait, the tougher it gets.

DOBBS: General David Grange.

Thank you.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

DOBBS: Still ahead, a remarkable statement about radical Islamist terrorism from one of the most respected members of the Arab press. I'll be joined by Daniel Benjamin who is the author of "The Age of Sacred Terror."

Also ahead here, blistering criticism of the Bush administration, the intelligence community and the conduct of this country's war on terror. Senator Bob Graham will join me to talk about his new book, "Intelligence Matters."

And incredibly, another dangerous and deadly hurricane is now racing toward Florida tonight. We'll have the very latest for you live from the National Hurricane Center on where and when Ivan is expected to strike.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: The United States is participating in a global war against terror, but, incredibly, most world leaders appear unwilling to speak the names of the enemy: radical Islamist terrorists.

In the Arab world, one of the few people to criticize radical Islamist terrorists is the general manager of the Al-Aribiya Television Network who has accused radical Islamist clerics of justifying the murder of innocent civilians in the name of a holy war.

Today, the violence continued. Radical Islamist terrorists in Indonesia killed at least nine people in a car bomb attack against the Australian embassy. Australia is one of, of course, this country's closest allies. That terrorist attack came days after the end of a horrific school siege in southern Russia. Again, radical Islamist terrorists. They killed more than 300 people, more than half of them children.

Joining me now is Daniel Benjamin. He is the author of "The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam's War Against America." Daniel Benjamin is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Daniel, good to have you here.

DANIEL BENJAMIN, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Thanks for having me.

DOBBS: Let's focus on two things, if we could, at the outset: one, the Chechen so-called separatist movement that is behind much of the terror being waged against Russia; and secondly, this attack in Indonesia today looking for all the world to be not connected, but, in fact, are they related?

BENJAMIN: Well, they're undoubtedly related because they're animated to a certain extent by the same ideology, an ideology that holds that infidels need to be killed, that this is sacred violence, that it is justified, that the more the better and that this is part of a global uprising against an oppressive world order. There is a connection.

It is true that there are differences. In Chechnya, we have an ethnic and nationalist uprising that has become increasingly religious. In Indonesia, we have a group that's allied with al Qaeda. But there are a lot of similarities there.

DOBBS: Similarities and, across the globe, the United States military's involved in almost 30 countries conducting this war against terror. The breadth, the dimension of this war is not, I think, probably central in most people's minds when we talk about a global war on terror. It's truly global.

Why is it that this country is conducting what it calls a war on terror rather than a war against radical Islamist terrorists who are the enemy?

BENJAMIN: Well, I think the main reason that we hear about a war on terror instead of a war on radical Islamist terror is that the Bush administration has defined the war on terror much more broadly and said that this is a war on all terror, on all evildoers.

And this has been useful to the administration as a way of justifying a war in Iraq, which was against a regime that was not radical Islamist at all, it was secular and Baathist, but, because they've maintained this rubric, it's been impossible to link the war against al Qaeda and the war against Iraq.

To my mind, it's been counterproductive, but that's the way they've done it.

DOBBS: Is it your judgment that the United States should be supporting Russia in its fight against radical Islamist terrorists in Chechnya, for example, even though it is radical Islamist terrorism against Russian interests and other provinces as well?

BENJAMIN: Well, I do think that we have a community of interests with the Russians in terms of defeating this threat. The Russians have not helped themselves by carrying out campaigns that were really unyielding and merciless in their own brutality, and that has fed the dynamic that led to this radicalization and to the increasing religious sort of hue of the conflict.

We saw a similar thing happen in Kashmir where what was also a nationalist uprising became more religious and, therefore, much more violent, much more deadly. We have a problem with the Russians. They haven't played by the rules a lot of the time, and that makes it difficult. But we do need to work together and find a way to advance the war on terror.

DOBBS: Daniel, the head of the Al-Aribiya Television Network in Saudi today shocked a good part of the Muslim world and much of the West when he said -- and I'd like if we could show this quote -- "It's" -- he said, "It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims. What a pathetic record. What an abominable achievement. Does this tell us any about ourselves, our societies and our cultures?"

This acknowledgment by the head of Al-Aribiya which has been criticized, as you well know, for broadcasting sensational, inflammatory editorials and imagery, if you will, in the Middle East, has made a -- obviously, a conversion here. What do you think that the reaction will be in the Arab world to this straightforward statement?

BENJAMIN: Well, there have been a number of statements over the last few years of this nature. The...

DOBBS: Well, there hasn't been one by anybody this powerful in media in the Middle East, and there's certainly been nothing like this by any leader from any part of the Arab world.

BENJAMIN: Well, it's a big record. Whatever the case, it's an important statement. It's a positive statement. I think a lot of people are shaken by what they saw in Beslan and the school massacre, and I think there are going to be a lot of people who agree with this.

However, that's a long way from stemming the tide of ideology, of radical ideology that is winning the day in many parts of the Muslim world.

Look, the anti-Americanism, anti-Western sentiment has grown dramatically in the last few years, sparked by people's admiration of what bin Laden did on 9/11 in standing up to the United States and, also, by the war in Iraq which has been profoundly unpopular.

DOBBS: Daniel Benjamin, we thank you for being here.

BENJAMIN: My pleasure.

DOBBS: And that brings us to the subject of our poll question tonight: Do you believe the war on terror should be properly referred to as the war on terror or the war on radical Islamist terrorists? Please cast your vote at cnn.com/lou. We'll have the results here later. Coming up next, staggering new information tonight number on a growing illiteracy crisis in this country. You simply will not believe how pervasive the problem has become in one of this country's largest cities.

And three years after September 11, a new report finds our southern border is ripe for exploitation by terrorists. That's the conclusion of a new report. Congressman Jim Turner will be here, ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee. He's our guest.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: There are new developments tonight in a human smuggling ring busted in Detroit, Michigan. One of the suspects was released today after prosecutors there admitted they had arrested the wrong man. However, prosecutors say the illegal aliens originated from Iraq, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries, some 200 of them.

Two other people are in custody tonight, including an assistant ombudsman for the City of Detroit. The remaining suspects are charged with smuggling more than 200 illegal aliens into this country over the past three years. Investigators are still trying to determine whether the ring is linked to terrorism.

We have reported here extensively on the millions of illegal aliens who have crossed our broken borders. My next guest says this country desperately needs to bolster security along the border, in particular with Mexico.

Congressman Jim Turner has just completed a report detailing numerous security failures along the southern border. Congressman Turner is the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security and joins us tonight from Washington.

Congressman, good to have you here.

REP. JIM TURNER (D), HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY: Thank you, Lou. It's good to be with you.

DOBBS: As we approach one of the most tragic, if not the most tragic, anniversaries in this country's history, that of September 11, is it your judgment, after you and your staff spent six months studying the southern border, that we are, indeed, safer as a result of the precautions that have been put in place?

TURNER: Lou, I guess you could argue that we might be somewhat safer, but we're certainly not safe enough. The study that we did revealed how very porous our southern border is.

One of the more shocking things that we noticed in our study is when we talked to Border Patrol agents who tell us that they capture illegals coming across our border only to find out that within days they're released on their personal bond into the United States. In fact, last year, 20,000 people who came across our borders illegally and were captured from countries other than Mexico were released on their own personal bond into our country, and it wouldn't surprise you that 90 percent of them never showed back up for a detention hearing.

So, we have a very porous southern border. It represents a very severe threat to the security of our country, and, with all of the reports that we're getting about al Qaeda intending to use the southern border as an access point, this kind of security gap must be closed immediately.

DOBBS: You have prepared this report. You call for some changes -- significant changes -- in the way in which border security is implemented at the southern border in particular. What amongst the 10 recommendations that you've made do you consider to be the most critical and urgent?

TURNER: Well, I think the first thing we've got to do is make a billion-dollar investment improving the infrastructure, the personnel and the technology along the southern border.

It's just to me totally unacceptable to say that we're fighting a war on terror and, yet, 20,000 illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico were released into our country last year on their own personal bond.

And as we visited one of the detention centers on the border, we noticed that the population there comes from all over the world. There were Pakistanis in the detention center, there were Sudanese, there were people from Iraq. All over the world.

So, when al Qaeda has clearly stated their interest in getting people into the United States. and, in fact, stated on their Web site two years ago that they were very interested in the southern border, it seems that it is incumbent upon us to move immediately to close the gap that we have there.

DOBBS: Congressman, quickly. What is the reaction of the Homeland Security Department? You as the ranking member of the committee and your colleagues on that committee, is apathy at an end? Do they understand the urgency and agree with your judgment?

TURNER: I don't know if they agree or not. I hope they do. I noticed the administration requested fund fog 150 additional beds in their budget requests for detention facilities. Obviously, that's a drop in the bucket if you have 20,000 that you're unable to hold because you have no space.

We've got to get serious in this country about really fighting a real war on terror and about securing our homeland. And one of the most egregious examples of the gap between the rhetoric on homeland security and the reality of what we're doing on homeland security is found in this border report that we issued today.

DOBBS: Congressman, we thank you and your staff and your committee for its hard work for the sake of the country. We thank you.

TURNER: Thank you, Lou.

DOBBS: A shocking new report tonight out of Los Angeles. It finds more than half of the working population in the City of Los Angeles is functionally illiterate. It is a crisis caused, in part, by millions of illegal immigrants in that region and a soaring high school dropout rate.

Peter Viles reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If someone told you half of the workers in the world's 17th largest economy are functionally illiterate, you'd probably think of Southeast Asia, maybe Latin America. But think again, it is Los Angeles. The mayor of Los Angeles calls it an emergency situation that threatens the region's economy.

STEVEN KOLTAI, LITERACY NETWORK OF LA: With respect to literacy, we may well be on our way to becoming the first third world city in America.

VILES: A new study by the United Way focuses on work force literacy, the skills needed to fully participate in the American economy. The headline: "53 percent of the working age population in Los Angeles County, that's 3.8 million people, have low literacy skills." In South Los Angeles, the low literacy rate, a staggering 84 percent.

Low literacy being defined as unable to read a bus schedule, follow instructions on a medicine bottle or complete a job application.

Behind the numbers, wave after wave of nonEnglish speaking immigrants, some of whom can't read or write in any language, and a stubbornly high dropout rate. Hardly a recipe for a globally competitive economy.

JULIE ANDERS, RIGHT TO READ FOUNDATION: We are a global competitor in global markets, and several years ago we only had a 77 percent literacy rate among our work force in the United States, in comparison with other nations that have 95 and above literacy.

VILES: The impact on the L.A. economy is sobering. Employers complain they can't find workers for high-skilled jobs, but the low wage, low scale economy is booming. Most new jobs in the area require only limited literacy skills. And wages for all workers, except college graduates, are falling. Peter Viles, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Tonight's thought is on the importance of education. "Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of the social machinery." Those are the words of educator Horace Mann.

Taking a look now at some of your thoughts. Hundreds of you wrote in last night about my statement here last night, that this broadcast may no longer report about President Bush and Senator Kerry's lives 35 years ago and, rather, focus on issues.

Kelly Harless of Solana Beach, California said: "It is just plain unfair to devote several segments of debate regarding the Swift Boats for Truth's claims, while not providing equal coverage for the counterclaims against President Bush."

And Sandy in Templeton, California: "Lou, you are wrong about the irrelevance of the military records of Bush and Kerry. This has nothing to do with what they did or didn't do 35 years ago. It has everything to do with what they said they did. It has to do with honesty, credibility and untimately character."

And Ron Parham in Jacksonville, North Carolina: "No one cares about what happened 30-years ago. We all want to know what the plane is for the next 4.

And John Morrison in Lompoc, California: "Lou, thank you, thank you for taking a stand and not reporting any longer on what happened 35 years ago. The president has been in office for four years, the senator for 20, that's plenty of time to determine their character."

We love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts at loudobbs@CNN.com. And please send us your name and address. Each of you whose e-mail is read on this broadcast receives a free copy of my new book, "Exporting America."

The 10-year-old ban on assault weapons expires this coming Monday. Now a group calling itself stopthenra.com is calling on President Bush to renew it. That group will run a controversial ad in two million newspapers across the country tomorrow. The ad pictures Osama bin Laden holding an AK-47 with a caption that reads "Terrorists of 9/11 can hardly wait for 9/13." That, of course, the date for Monday.

It also shows instructions from an al Qaeda training manual urging people in the United States to own assault weapons. The ad is sponsored by the Brady campaign to prevent gun violence.

A spokesman National Rifle Association calls this ad shameless and said the gun control lobby is trying to tie its own agenda to terrorism. Republican congressional leaders late yesterday said the bill to renew that ban will not come up for a vote even if the president asks for it.

Still ahead here, a deadly Category 4 hurricane tonight barreling through the Caribbean. Winds in excess of 150 miles an hour. It's already forced the total evacuation of the Florida Keys. We'll have the very latest on Hurricane Ivan from the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

And I will be joined by Senator Bob Graham. Senator Graham says the Bush administration has repeatedly hindered the investigation of a September 11 attacks in what he call a disgraceful manner. Senator Graham is the author of the new book, "Intelligence Matters." He joins me next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Widespread devastation in the Caribbean tonight from Hurricane Ivan. Ivan, originally a Category 5 is now a Category 4 hurricane, downgraded just within the last hour-and-a-half -- 150 mile an hour winds, nonetheless -- even greater than that of Hurricane Frances.

As many as 20 people were killed when Ivan pummeled Grenada, Barbados and other islands. A 17th century prison was in fact demolished on the Island of Grenada. Inmates there were -- escaped as a result.

This powerful, deadly storm is now barreling towards Jamaica, where officials have urged half a million people to evacuate.

Hurricane Ivan is also widely expected to hit the already ravaged State of Florida. Tourists and residents in the Florida Keys today were told to evacuate, because authorities there believe Ivan could hit the island chain by Sunday. If that does occur, it will be the first time since the mid 1960s that three hurricanes have hit Florida in the same year.

Scientists say that this could be the new normal for Florida. A change in atmospheric currents has changed the condition of the state and made it a hurricane magnet, in fact.

Joining me now is Chris Landsea from the National Hurricane Center in Miami and an expert on climatology and this, if I may say, it looks like a major change. Are you suggesting that we could be looking at what would be a cycle of -- just a normal cycle of killer hurricanes across the southern United States?

CHRIS LANDSEA, NOAA HURRICANE RESEARCHER: Well, it's not going to seem normal to the people experiencing it. But we have seen cycles of hurricane activity before. From the late twenties to the late 1960s we saw extreme hurricane activity with lots of landfalls in Florida, many of them as major hurricanes.

DOBBS: Now what is causing this eruption, if you will, of such powerful and frequent storms?

LANDSEA: Well, actually, we've been seeing this since 1995. What's been different this year is that they've been taking direct aim at Florida. I guess we're not too surprised that that's been happening. I'm more surprised that Florida wasn't in the target the last few years because we have seen a number of strong hurricanes over the last 10 years.

DOBBS: You, obviously, are studying all of this activity. What are you seeing in either atmospheric conditions or water currents that is compelling this kind of trend? LANDSEA: It appears that this heightened activity is due to changes in the Atlantic Ocean. It's a natural cycle where the water warms up and the atmosphere above becomes more conducive for the breeding grounds in hurricanes. And it tends to last from 25 to 40 years of this warm water conditions in very active hurricanes. We're only about 10 years into this current cycle.

So, we may have many more to experience.

DOBBS: Well, with all of our fellow citizens in Florida looking at the prospect of another powerful storm hitting them a third in short order, they probably don't want to think about this. But is there any way to tell where the peak is? Could this be the peak or are you suggesting that we're going to see even greater activity?

LANDSEA: Well, we do know that for a calendar year, that middle of September is about the peak of activity. We've had a record- breaking August and also a very busy early September. It is really anyone's guess whether it will continue. But we have seen years where October and even early November can see some very strong hurricanes and some large impacts.

DOBBS: I think this is where you basically said we should just hope all for the very best. Chris Landsea, we thank you very much from the National Hurricane Center.

LANDSEA: Thank you.

DOBBS: Coming up next here, "Intelligence Matters." It's a new book sharply criticizing the president's handling of the war on terror and our national security capabilities. I'll be joined by Senator Bob Graham next.

And exporting a symbol of America to foreign countries. An intense battle is underway tonight for a contract which will have a direct impact on national security. And we'll have that special report as well. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Senator Bob Graham of Florida is the author of a new book that offers sharp criticism of President Bush and the intelligence community in what Senator Graham calls the failed war on terror. The book is titled "Intelligence Matters; The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia, and the Failure of America's War on Terror." In it Senator Graham asserts among other things that America is less secure today than on September 11, 2001.

Senator Graham served 10 years on the Senate select committee on intelligence and he joins us tonight from Washington, D.C. Senator, good to have you with us. Congratulations on this new book.

The assertions that you make about the president's conduct, very serious charges, Senator.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), FLORIDA: Yes, they are. Before we turn to that, Lou, if I could just extend my sympathy and best wishes to the people of Florida who have been through two hurricanes and the people in the Caribbean who just suffered such losses. We wish that all will be spared from further damage.

DOBBS: Senator, those are appropriate wishes, and we certainly, all of us here, join you in extending those wishes. This storm looks -- if one can imagine -- it looks possibly even worse than Hurricane Frances.

Turning to the issue of intelligence and the failures of the Bush administration, in your judgment, what is, in your best judgment, the single greatest failure on the part of the president himself and his decision-making?

GRAHAM: Losing the focus on the war on terror. In February of 2002, we had al Qaeda by the neck and were in a position to kill or detain Osama bin Laden and crush al Qaeda. What we had done was smash our fists down on a blob of mercury and it had burst out into many droplets.

At that point, we dropped the ball and began to change our direction and our priorities to Iraq. As General Franks says, we began to redeploy our critical military, intelligence personnel and equipment from winning the war in Afghanistan to getting ready to start the war 14 months later in Iraq.

DOBBS: And amongst the most specific charges that you make are related to a Saudi by the name of al-Bayoumi who befriended and perhaps supported two of the terrorists of September 11. Tell us why there was never a follow-up in your judgment, even though you were personally in your committee personally was involved in looking into that. Why there was never a follow-up by, apparently, anyone to that connection?

GRAHAM: Because there was a cover-up. In our final report of the House/Senate joint inquiry into 9/11, we had a 27-page section of the report which laid out in detail this Saudi connection through al- Bayoumi and others to the terrorists.

All of that was censored by the president. Also we've learned later that there were key witnesses that were denied to us, including denial to issue and serve a subpoena whose denial was a direct result of the orders coming out of the White House.

DOBBS: And what did the investigators say to you and to your committee following that failure?

GRAHAM: Well, what has happened is that we've continued to be very compliant with Saudi Arabia, such as when the Saudis came to the president immediately after 9/11 and asked to have 140 flown with a 747 out of the United States, even though the FBI says they wanted to interrogate several of those on the manifest, they all left.

We've had this good cop/bad cop where the ambassador from Saudi Arabia says my hands are clean, give me the opportunity to demonstrate that we didn't have anything to do with the terrorist and the president says no, that's all classified.

So, the Saudis get the benefit of appearing to want to come clean, and the president placed the heavy of saying for national security reasons, we can't let you do it.

DOBBS: Senator Bob Graham, we thank you for being here. The title of the senator's new book, an important new book, "Intelligence Matters; The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia and the Failure of America's War on Terror."

A reminder now to vote on our poll. The question, "do you believe the war on terror should be properly referred to as the war on terror or the war on radical Islamist terrorists?" Cast your vote at cnn.com/lou. We'll have the results coming up here just a little later.

Still ahead, one of the world's most highly respected economists has broken with the orthodoxy about whether the shipment of American jobs to cheap foreign labor markets is really so good for all of us and our economy. We'll have that very important story.

And then, a growing battle over whether the helicopter that transports the president of the United States should be made in the USA. That story, a great deal more, still ahead. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Manufacturing jobs continue to stream out of this country overseas. Tonight, a number of specialized jobs are at risk of being exported to foreign countries. Those jobs are not only prestigious, but critical to our national security: The design and manufacture of the fleet of helicopters that will carry the president of the United States.

Lisa Sylvester reports from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What's up for grabs is more than money -- it's prestige: The honor of building the helicopter that will shuttle the president around. The battle pits United Technology's Sikorsky Aircraft Company against a Lockheed Martin and European team.

The Sikorsky team is promising to build all 132 Marine One helicopters in the United States. Lockheed will farm out between 10 to 35 percent of the work to foreign companies, a sore point for labor unions.

TOM BUFFENBARGER, MACHINISTS & AEROSPACE WORKERS: There was a day in America when a Lockheed product was made Lockheed through and through from beginning to end, from the smallest component to the finished product.

SYLVESTER: Lockheed Martin, aware of the backlash against sending work overseas, has, in the last month, signed up more American subcontractors to work on the project.

The company is also winning over Congressional lawmakers by promising jobs to their district. New York State would receive 700 new Lockheed related jobs.

REP. SHERWOOD BOEHLERT (R), NEW YORK: But it's not just New York. It's a GE engine in Massachusetts, and the air frame by Bell Helicopter out of Texas. As a matter of fact, 41 states have subcontracts on this in their states that would provide jobs for America.

SYLVESTER: But Sikorsky says if Lockheed gets the contract, it will mean a net job loss in the United States. The contract is worth $1.6 billion.

Then there's the debate over which helicopter is better. Lockheed has three engines to Sikorsky's two, but Sikorsky says its chopper is the quietest, smoothest, safest ride.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the cat's meow right here in the helicopter world. You're sitting in it.

SYLVESTER: Sikorski also has history on its side. It's had the Marine One contract for nearly 50 years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): Aside from the honor of building the Marine One fleet, this contract will also likely lead to a financial jackpot -- $40 billion worth of contracts to build military search and rescue helicopters.

But because this is such a political hot potato, the Pentagon has decided to delay the decision until after the election -- Lou?

DOBBS: So much seems to be delayed until after the presidential election. Lisa Sylvester, thank you very much.

A highly respected Nobel Prize winning economist tonight has broken with conventional academic orthodoxy when it comes to the issue of the exporting of America -- the outsourcing of American jobs to cheap overseas labor markets. And this is the first break in the orthodoxy.

Noted MIT economist Paul Samuelson says that the popular economic theory that international trade in any form will automatically benefit the American economy is, quote, "dead wrong." Samuelson has written an essay that disputes the ideas held by many mainstream economists, such as Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and, notably, White House Economic Advisor Gregory Mankiw.

In Samuelson's essay, he writes that the gains from exporting American jobs and know-how to foreign countries will not necessarily outweigh the losses suffered by American workers, as those who defend free trade at any cost often argue. The essay will be published in the distinguished "Journal of Economic Perspectives." On Wall Street today, the Dow dropped more than 24 points; the Nasdaq gained 19; the S&P 500 up two.

Coming up next, the results of our poll, our preview of what's ahead tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: The results now of tonight's poll: three-quarters of you say "The War on Terror" should be properly called "The War Against Radical Islamist Terrorists."

Thanks for being with us. Please join us here tomorrow. "TIME" magazine correspondent Vivian Walt, Middle Eastern studies professor Fouad Ajami. We'll be talking about radical Islamist terrorism.

Good night from New York. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" is next.

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

Aired September 9, 2004 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, the Bush-Cheney and Kerry- Edwards campaigns focus on critical domestic issues and try to avoid controversy over their lives three-and-a-half decades ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the past year, we've added 1.7 million jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN F. KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Affordable, accessible healthcare to all Americans. Number one priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOBBS: Sharp criticism tonight of the president's handling of the wear on terror. I'll be joined by Democratic Senator Bob Graham. He says America is no safer now than before September 11. He's our guest.

A stunning statement about the war on terror. A top Saudi journalist claims radical Islamist clerics were using religion to justify the murder of innocent civilians. I'll be joined by Daniel Benjamin, author of "The Age of Sacred Terror."

Shocking new figures tonight on illiteracy in America. More than half the working age population of one of this country's biggest cities can't read even simple forms. Massive illegal immigration part of the reason.

Democratic Congressman Jim Turner says there is a crisis in our border security. Congressman Turner is our guest.

And another huge hurricane has Florida in its sights. Winds exceeding 160 miles an hour. Hurricane Ivan has already devastated Grenada. It is set to hit the islands of Jamaica and Cuba. The Florida Keys have been ordered evacuated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: This has been an incredible month. (END VIDEO CLIP)

DOBBS: Tonight, we address the question of whether killer hurricanes are now the norm.

ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Thursday, September 9. Here now for an hour of news, debate and opinion is Lou Dobbs.

DOBBS: Good evening.

Tonight, President Bush and Senator Kerry was putting a new emphasis on critical domestic issues. The presidential candidates are fighting to win battleground states. They're trying to turn voter attention at the same time from the controversy surrounding their military service. In Pennsylvania, President Bush declared his tax cuts have helped revive our economically.

We begin our coverage tonight in Iowa with the Kerry campaign. Ed Henry has the report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KERRY: This is my second home.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Kerry turned to Iowa where he started his astonishing comeback in the primaries. He returned now to kickstart his struggling general election campaign.

KERRY: George W. Bush chose a great big tax cut for the people literally, and then 30 percent of this thing went to people earning more than a million bucks. And we're telling kids and families we're cutting your after school program. That's W, wrong choice, wrong direction, wrong leadership for this country, and that's what we're going to change.

HENRY: While Kerry's allies ramp up their attacks on President Bush's service in the National Guard, the candidate is dodging questions about the controversy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did President Bush fulfill his National Guard obligations?

HENRY: But Kerry could not stop talking about his healthcare plan at Wednesday's stop in Des Moines.

KERRY: If you make me president of the United States, on day one, within whatever number of hours I'm allowed to do it, I am sending a bill to Congress to provide affordable, accessible healthcare to all Americans. Number one priority.

HENRY: After the swift boat controversy and Kerry's drop in the polls, Democrats like Bill Clinton wanted the senator to focus less on Vietnam and more on domestic issues, like two new ads unveiled by Kerry in Pennsylvania, while the president campaigned in that battleground state. ANNOUNCER: John Kerry. A real plan to strengthen Medicare and lower health-care costs.

HENRY: ... this town hall meeting, and it turned into a light moment. A woman praised the candidate for saving people in war and rescuing a hamster in the Kerry home, which was recounted at the Democratic Convention.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a stark contrast because he watched it, you know, from the Bush twins that the Bush hamster did not make it.

KERRY: Is that a metaphor or a prophecy?

HENRY (on camera): The Kerry camp says it has nothing to do with the Texans for Truth ads which accuse the president of being AWOL, but Bush advisers charge that this attack has been coordinated with Kerry. Republicans note that the senator spent days denouncing the swift boat ads, but, thus far, has been silent about the anti-Bush ones.

Ed Henry, CNN, Des Moines, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: President Bush today accused Senator Kerry of having a secret plan to raise taxes. White House Correspondent Dana Bash is traveling with President Bush and joins me from Johnstown, Pennsylvania -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, you know, this is the president's 36th trip to Pennsylvania, a state that he won that he lost narrowly to Al Gore last time around. He's been here so much. It's actually the 9th of the month, and he's been here three times already this month. He even joked about that at his two stops today.

And what he did here is change his stump speech a little bit to really focus on economic issues, pocketbook issues, expanded a little bit on the domestic proposals that he first talked about at his convention in New York, talked about these issues and -- like health savings accounts, job training and, of course, tax cuts.

And he took a swipe at his opponent, John Kerry, for saying that he voted several times in the Senate to raise taxes and, also, said that his current spending proposals are so big that he -- essentially, he thinks he's got a secret plan to raise taxes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: He said, oh, it's simple. We'll just tax the rich. There's two problems with that. One is that you can't raise enough money by taxing the rich to pay for $2 trillion. There's a gap between what he promises and what he says he's going to do. Guess who usually has to fill that gap? Yes.

Here's the other problem. You've heard that rhetoric before. Oh, don't worry. We'll just tax the rich. They hire lawyers and accountants and dodge. You get stuck with the bill. We're not going to let him tax you. We're going to win in November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now the Kerry campaign says that they're simply talking about repealing just the top tax cuts, and that is really on the most wealthy Americans. They also say what the president is doing is trying to deflect the fact that on his watch we have the highest deficits in history.

Now what the president is doing with this message here is trying to appeal to moderate Republicans both here in the suburb of Pittsburgh and earlier in the suburb of Philadelphia.

Those moderate Republicans, many of them, did not vote for the president. They voted Democrat last time around. So, Mr. Bush is trying to woo them back by talking about traditional Republican issues, that he thinks that they should focus on the fact that he wants to lower government regulation, while John Kerry wants to raise government regulation.

And also, Lou, this is a state that voters really do care about the economy, and Mr. Bush, polls show, is losing to John Kerry on economic issues here -- Lou.

DOBBS: Dana Bash.

Thank you very much.

Pollsters agree that President Bush has enjoyed a bounce in the opinion polls after the Republican National Convention here in New York. But the scale of that bounce has been far from clear until now.

With that story, here's Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Where does the presidential race stand? For that, we do a poll of polls.

Two national polls interviewed registered voters after the Republican Convention ended. The CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows a near tie. The CBS News poll shows Bush with an eight-point lead. "TIME" and "Newsweek" polled at least some voters during the convention. "TIME" has Bush ahead by eight. "Newsweek" has Bush leading by 11. Very different leads for Bush.

But in three of the four polls, President Bush's support is right around 50. Bottom line: Every national poll shows Bush gaining, and every national poll shows Bush now ahead, though sometimes by a narrow margin.

There have been polls in eight states either during or since the Republican Convention. Let's look at three battleground states Bush carried in 2000. Missouri went for Bush by three points in 2000. A post-convention poll shows Bush leading by 14. Last time, Bush won Ohio by four. He's now ahead by eight. Arizona gave Bush a five-point lead in 2000. He's now ahead by 16. Three red states getting redder.

Now let's look at some states that voted for Al Gore in 20000. Pennsylvania gave Gore a four-point victory. The latest Pennsylvania poll has Bush ahead by one. New Jersey gave Gore a whopping 16-point victory over Bush. A new poll shows Kerry's lead shrinking to just two. Oregon was a squeaker last time. Gore by half a percent. It's still a squeaker. Bush up by one. New Mexico was also a squeaker in 2000. Gore won by less than a tenth of a percent. Now Bush leads by three. Four blue states now in doubt.

But Democrats are holding on pretty well in Washington State. Al Gore won Washington by six points. Kerry is now eight points up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: OK. Here's one more. ABC News and "The Washington Post" just released their new national poll. It shows Bush 50, Kerry 44 among registered voters, very consistent with the other results. Bush clearly has momentum coming out of his party's convention.

For the first time all year, it's fair to say this campaign has a front-runner -- Lou.

DOBBS: Bill, fascinating analysis, and the bounce that the president is enjoying following the convention -- is it just about what the Republican National Committee, the leaders of the Republican Party expected following that convention?

SCHNEIDER: Well, they probably expected a little bit more, actually. The bounce was two or three points in most of those polls. They might have been hoping for a little bit more like seven or eight.

But look, they're happy with what they've got because -- You know what? -- the Democrats got no bounce from their convention. The problem is there are few swing voters out there, and, if there are very few swingers, there's not going to be much bouncing.

DOBBS: OK. Bill Schneider, as always, thank you.

Turning now to Iraq. American troops and aircraft today launched offensive operations in three cities that are controlled by Iraqi insurgents. U.S. aircraft bombed suspected enemy positions in Fallujah for a third straight day. Fighter aircraft also launched air strikes against the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar crossing into Iraq from Syria.

American and Iraqi troops set up checkpoints trying to stop terrorists from leaving and to prevent insurgents reinforcing that town.

In central Iraq, American and Iraqi troops entered the City of Samara for the first time in months. They're obviously trying to regain control of the stronghold.

Joining me now in Grange on Point tonight, General David Grange.

General, the fact we are watching this level of operations pick up now, the number of strikes that have increased against U.S. troops, what do you make of it?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: What I think is the surge has been going on, and it's going to pick up, Lou, especially with the American elections coming up, the interim government trying to get some credibility, elections ongoing in Afghanistan right now.

It's an insurgent surge. They know what's going on in the headlines, and they know that it's a critical time for them to pick up their efforts. Counter to that, coalition forces, those Iraqi forces that are trained are going on the offensive as well.

DOBBS: General, does this suggest a critical mistake on the part of military strategy, our leaders in Iraq, that the strikes against U.S. troops have risen to 80 a day and that there a number of strongholds that are simply in the outright control of insurgents.

GRANGE: Well, there are several cities where a good part of the city is under the control, or part of it, of insurgent terrorist groups, and the coalition, the Iraqi government must --- and I believe will -- take them back.

The question is then timing. It's tied, again, to elections. It's tied to -- the main reason -- the main concern is the Iraqi military, having a critical force that can, in fact, lead the way and fight effectively on their own, and that takes some time.

DOBBS: It takes some time. General Richard Myers says it will take at least a year to have a full force of Iraqis competent enough to preserve their own security.

Let's talk about this, set aside politics and international policy for a moment. Let's talk about the lives of our troops who are at risk in Iraq. What should the United States military be doing to make certain that our losses are as little as possible?

GRANGE: Well, the number of losses we have to date going over a thousand has nothing to do with capability of the U.S. forces. Very capable, obviously. And a thousand is really not significant to 500 or 100 or even a loss of one American G.I. A loss of one G.I., obviously, means that you are committed to winning. If not, we shouldn't be there.

And so, what it means is that the U.S. is going to continue to support the coalition and the interim Iraqi government to take down the insurgents. But it's a counterinsurgency, a tough fight which takes time, and, again, the training of Iraqi soldiers to join a fray in bigger numbers is critical to that success.

DOBBS: You point to the issue of winning. Leaving Samara, Fallujah, a number of other towns in Iraq in the control of insurgents, now taking offensive action against them, allowing Muqtada al-Sadr to return to his stronghold, the town of al-Sadr about two million people strong within Baghdad itself. At what point do we define winning in a new way?

GRANGE: Well, the key thing here is, Lou, that they should never have given up Fallujah or the Sadr Army in Najaf when they had them. They should have held them by the nose and defeated them when they had the chance. Now it's going to be a tougher fight, and they're going to have to do it eventually, and the longer you wait, the tougher it gets.

DOBBS: General David Grange.

Thank you.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

DOBBS: Still ahead, a remarkable statement about radical Islamist terrorism from one of the most respected members of the Arab press. I'll be joined by Daniel Benjamin who is the author of "The Age of Sacred Terror."

Also ahead here, blistering criticism of the Bush administration, the intelligence community and the conduct of this country's war on terror. Senator Bob Graham will join me to talk about his new book, "Intelligence Matters."

And incredibly, another dangerous and deadly hurricane is now racing toward Florida tonight. We'll have the very latest for you live from the National Hurricane Center on where and when Ivan is expected to strike.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: The United States is participating in a global war against terror, but, incredibly, most world leaders appear unwilling to speak the names of the enemy: radical Islamist terrorists.

In the Arab world, one of the few people to criticize radical Islamist terrorists is the general manager of the Al-Aribiya Television Network who has accused radical Islamist clerics of justifying the murder of innocent civilians in the name of a holy war.

Today, the violence continued. Radical Islamist terrorists in Indonesia killed at least nine people in a car bomb attack against the Australian embassy. Australia is one of, of course, this country's closest allies. That terrorist attack came days after the end of a horrific school siege in southern Russia. Again, radical Islamist terrorists. They killed more than 300 people, more than half of them children.

Joining me now is Daniel Benjamin. He is the author of "The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam's War Against America." Daniel Benjamin is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Daniel, good to have you here.

DANIEL BENJAMIN, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Thanks for having me.

DOBBS: Let's focus on two things, if we could, at the outset: one, the Chechen so-called separatist movement that is behind much of the terror being waged against Russia; and secondly, this attack in Indonesia today looking for all the world to be not connected, but, in fact, are they related?

BENJAMIN: Well, they're undoubtedly related because they're animated to a certain extent by the same ideology, an ideology that holds that infidels need to be killed, that this is sacred violence, that it is justified, that the more the better and that this is part of a global uprising against an oppressive world order. There is a connection.

It is true that there are differences. In Chechnya, we have an ethnic and nationalist uprising that has become increasingly religious. In Indonesia, we have a group that's allied with al Qaeda. But there are a lot of similarities there.

DOBBS: Similarities and, across the globe, the United States military's involved in almost 30 countries conducting this war against terror. The breadth, the dimension of this war is not, I think, probably central in most people's minds when we talk about a global war on terror. It's truly global.

Why is it that this country is conducting what it calls a war on terror rather than a war against radical Islamist terrorists who are the enemy?

BENJAMIN: Well, I think the main reason that we hear about a war on terror instead of a war on radical Islamist terror is that the Bush administration has defined the war on terror much more broadly and said that this is a war on all terror, on all evildoers.

And this has been useful to the administration as a way of justifying a war in Iraq, which was against a regime that was not radical Islamist at all, it was secular and Baathist, but, because they've maintained this rubric, it's been impossible to link the war against al Qaeda and the war against Iraq.

To my mind, it's been counterproductive, but that's the way they've done it.

DOBBS: Is it your judgment that the United States should be supporting Russia in its fight against radical Islamist terrorists in Chechnya, for example, even though it is radical Islamist terrorism against Russian interests and other provinces as well?

BENJAMIN: Well, I do think that we have a community of interests with the Russians in terms of defeating this threat. The Russians have not helped themselves by carrying out campaigns that were really unyielding and merciless in their own brutality, and that has fed the dynamic that led to this radicalization and to the increasing religious sort of hue of the conflict.

We saw a similar thing happen in Kashmir where what was also a nationalist uprising became more religious and, therefore, much more violent, much more deadly. We have a problem with the Russians. They haven't played by the rules a lot of the time, and that makes it difficult. But we do need to work together and find a way to advance the war on terror.

DOBBS: Daniel, the head of the Al-Aribiya Television Network in Saudi today shocked a good part of the Muslim world and much of the West when he said -- and I'd like if we could show this quote -- "It's" -- he said, "It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims. What a pathetic record. What an abominable achievement. Does this tell us any about ourselves, our societies and our cultures?"

This acknowledgment by the head of Al-Aribiya which has been criticized, as you well know, for broadcasting sensational, inflammatory editorials and imagery, if you will, in the Middle East, has made a -- obviously, a conversion here. What do you think that the reaction will be in the Arab world to this straightforward statement?

BENJAMIN: Well, there have been a number of statements over the last few years of this nature. The...

DOBBS: Well, there hasn't been one by anybody this powerful in media in the Middle East, and there's certainly been nothing like this by any leader from any part of the Arab world.

BENJAMIN: Well, it's a big record. Whatever the case, it's an important statement. It's a positive statement. I think a lot of people are shaken by what they saw in Beslan and the school massacre, and I think there are going to be a lot of people who agree with this.

However, that's a long way from stemming the tide of ideology, of radical ideology that is winning the day in many parts of the Muslim world.

Look, the anti-Americanism, anti-Western sentiment has grown dramatically in the last few years, sparked by people's admiration of what bin Laden did on 9/11 in standing up to the United States and, also, by the war in Iraq which has been profoundly unpopular.

DOBBS: Daniel Benjamin, we thank you for being here.

BENJAMIN: My pleasure.

DOBBS: And that brings us to the subject of our poll question tonight: Do you believe the war on terror should be properly referred to as the war on terror or the war on radical Islamist terrorists? Please cast your vote at cnn.com/lou. We'll have the results here later. Coming up next, staggering new information tonight number on a growing illiteracy crisis in this country. You simply will not believe how pervasive the problem has become in one of this country's largest cities.

And three years after September 11, a new report finds our southern border is ripe for exploitation by terrorists. That's the conclusion of a new report. Congressman Jim Turner will be here, ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee. He's our guest.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: There are new developments tonight in a human smuggling ring busted in Detroit, Michigan. One of the suspects was released today after prosecutors there admitted they had arrested the wrong man. However, prosecutors say the illegal aliens originated from Iraq, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries, some 200 of them.

Two other people are in custody tonight, including an assistant ombudsman for the City of Detroit. The remaining suspects are charged with smuggling more than 200 illegal aliens into this country over the past three years. Investigators are still trying to determine whether the ring is linked to terrorism.

We have reported here extensively on the millions of illegal aliens who have crossed our broken borders. My next guest says this country desperately needs to bolster security along the border, in particular with Mexico.

Congressman Jim Turner has just completed a report detailing numerous security failures along the southern border. Congressman Turner is the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security and joins us tonight from Washington.

Congressman, good to have you here.

REP. JIM TURNER (D), HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY: Thank you, Lou. It's good to be with you.

DOBBS: As we approach one of the most tragic, if not the most tragic, anniversaries in this country's history, that of September 11, is it your judgment, after you and your staff spent six months studying the southern border, that we are, indeed, safer as a result of the precautions that have been put in place?

TURNER: Lou, I guess you could argue that we might be somewhat safer, but we're certainly not safe enough. The study that we did revealed how very porous our southern border is.

One of the more shocking things that we noticed in our study is when we talked to Border Patrol agents who tell us that they capture illegals coming across our border only to find out that within days they're released on their personal bond into the United States. In fact, last year, 20,000 people who came across our borders illegally and were captured from countries other than Mexico were released on their own personal bond into our country, and it wouldn't surprise you that 90 percent of them never showed back up for a detention hearing.

So, we have a very porous southern border. It represents a very severe threat to the security of our country, and, with all of the reports that we're getting about al Qaeda intending to use the southern border as an access point, this kind of security gap must be closed immediately.

DOBBS: You have prepared this report. You call for some changes -- significant changes -- in the way in which border security is implemented at the southern border in particular. What amongst the 10 recommendations that you've made do you consider to be the most critical and urgent?

TURNER: Well, I think the first thing we've got to do is make a billion-dollar investment improving the infrastructure, the personnel and the technology along the southern border.

It's just to me totally unacceptable to say that we're fighting a war on terror and, yet, 20,000 illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico were released into our country last year on their own personal bond.

And as we visited one of the detention centers on the border, we noticed that the population there comes from all over the world. There were Pakistanis in the detention center, there were Sudanese, there were people from Iraq. All over the world.

So, when al Qaeda has clearly stated their interest in getting people into the United States. and, in fact, stated on their Web site two years ago that they were very interested in the southern border, it seems that it is incumbent upon us to move immediately to close the gap that we have there.

DOBBS: Congressman, quickly. What is the reaction of the Homeland Security Department? You as the ranking member of the committee and your colleagues on that committee, is apathy at an end? Do they understand the urgency and agree with your judgment?

TURNER: I don't know if they agree or not. I hope they do. I noticed the administration requested fund fog 150 additional beds in their budget requests for detention facilities. Obviously, that's a drop in the bucket if you have 20,000 that you're unable to hold because you have no space.

We've got to get serious in this country about really fighting a real war on terror and about securing our homeland. And one of the most egregious examples of the gap between the rhetoric on homeland security and the reality of what we're doing on homeland security is found in this border report that we issued today.

DOBBS: Congressman, we thank you and your staff and your committee for its hard work for the sake of the country. We thank you.

TURNER: Thank you, Lou.

DOBBS: A shocking new report tonight out of Los Angeles. It finds more than half of the working population in the City of Los Angeles is functionally illiterate. It is a crisis caused, in part, by millions of illegal immigrants in that region and a soaring high school dropout rate.

Peter Viles reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If someone told you half of the workers in the world's 17th largest economy are functionally illiterate, you'd probably think of Southeast Asia, maybe Latin America. But think again, it is Los Angeles. The mayor of Los Angeles calls it an emergency situation that threatens the region's economy.

STEVEN KOLTAI, LITERACY NETWORK OF LA: With respect to literacy, we may well be on our way to becoming the first third world city in America.

VILES: A new study by the United Way focuses on work force literacy, the skills needed to fully participate in the American economy. The headline: "53 percent of the working age population in Los Angeles County, that's 3.8 million people, have low literacy skills." In South Los Angeles, the low literacy rate, a staggering 84 percent.

Low literacy being defined as unable to read a bus schedule, follow instructions on a medicine bottle or complete a job application.

Behind the numbers, wave after wave of nonEnglish speaking immigrants, some of whom can't read or write in any language, and a stubbornly high dropout rate. Hardly a recipe for a globally competitive economy.

JULIE ANDERS, RIGHT TO READ FOUNDATION: We are a global competitor in global markets, and several years ago we only had a 77 percent literacy rate among our work force in the United States, in comparison with other nations that have 95 and above literacy.

VILES: The impact on the L.A. economy is sobering. Employers complain they can't find workers for high-skilled jobs, but the low wage, low scale economy is booming. Most new jobs in the area require only limited literacy skills. And wages for all workers, except college graduates, are falling. Peter Viles, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Tonight's thought is on the importance of education. "Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of the social machinery." Those are the words of educator Horace Mann.

Taking a look now at some of your thoughts. Hundreds of you wrote in last night about my statement here last night, that this broadcast may no longer report about President Bush and Senator Kerry's lives 35 years ago and, rather, focus on issues.

Kelly Harless of Solana Beach, California said: "It is just plain unfair to devote several segments of debate regarding the Swift Boats for Truth's claims, while not providing equal coverage for the counterclaims against President Bush."

And Sandy in Templeton, California: "Lou, you are wrong about the irrelevance of the military records of Bush and Kerry. This has nothing to do with what they did or didn't do 35 years ago. It has everything to do with what they said they did. It has to do with honesty, credibility and untimately character."

And Ron Parham in Jacksonville, North Carolina: "No one cares about what happened 30-years ago. We all want to know what the plane is for the next 4.

And John Morrison in Lompoc, California: "Lou, thank you, thank you for taking a stand and not reporting any longer on what happened 35 years ago. The president has been in office for four years, the senator for 20, that's plenty of time to determine their character."

We love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts at loudobbs@CNN.com. And please send us your name and address. Each of you whose e-mail is read on this broadcast receives a free copy of my new book, "Exporting America."

The 10-year-old ban on assault weapons expires this coming Monday. Now a group calling itself stopthenra.com is calling on President Bush to renew it. That group will run a controversial ad in two million newspapers across the country tomorrow. The ad pictures Osama bin Laden holding an AK-47 with a caption that reads "Terrorists of 9/11 can hardly wait for 9/13." That, of course, the date for Monday.

It also shows instructions from an al Qaeda training manual urging people in the United States to own assault weapons. The ad is sponsored by the Brady campaign to prevent gun violence.

A spokesman National Rifle Association calls this ad shameless and said the gun control lobby is trying to tie its own agenda to terrorism. Republican congressional leaders late yesterday said the bill to renew that ban will not come up for a vote even if the president asks for it.

Still ahead here, a deadly Category 4 hurricane tonight barreling through the Caribbean. Winds in excess of 150 miles an hour. It's already forced the total evacuation of the Florida Keys. We'll have the very latest on Hurricane Ivan from the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

And I will be joined by Senator Bob Graham. Senator Graham says the Bush administration has repeatedly hindered the investigation of a September 11 attacks in what he call a disgraceful manner. Senator Graham is the author of the new book, "Intelligence Matters." He joins me next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Widespread devastation in the Caribbean tonight from Hurricane Ivan. Ivan, originally a Category 5 is now a Category 4 hurricane, downgraded just within the last hour-and-a-half -- 150 mile an hour winds, nonetheless -- even greater than that of Hurricane Frances.

As many as 20 people were killed when Ivan pummeled Grenada, Barbados and other islands. A 17th century prison was in fact demolished on the Island of Grenada. Inmates there were -- escaped as a result.

This powerful, deadly storm is now barreling towards Jamaica, where officials have urged half a million people to evacuate.

Hurricane Ivan is also widely expected to hit the already ravaged State of Florida. Tourists and residents in the Florida Keys today were told to evacuate, because authorities there believe Ivan could hit the island chain by Sunday. If that does occur, it will be the first time since the mid 1960s that three hurricanes have hit Florida in the same year.

Scientists say that this could be the new normal for Florida. A change in atmospheric currents has changed the condition of the state and made it a hurricane magnet, in fact.

Joining me now is Chris Landsea from the National Hurricane Center in Miami and an expert on climatology and this, if I may say, it looks like a major change. Are you suggesting that we could be looking at what would be a cycle of -- just a normal cycle of killer hurricanes across the southern United States?

CHRIS LANDSEA, NOAA HURRICANE RESEARCHER: Well, it's not going to seem normal to the people experiencing it. But we have seen cycles of hurricane activity before. From the late twenties to the late 1960s we saw extreme hurricane activity with lots of landfalls in Florida, many of them as major hurricanes.

DOBBS: Now what is causing this eruption, if you will, of such powerful and frequent storms?

LANDSEA: Well, actually, we've been seeing this since 1995. What's been different this year is that they've been taking direct aim at Florida. I guess we're not too surprised that that's been happening. I'm more surprised that Florida wasn't in the target the last few years because we have seen a number of strong hurricanes over the last 10 years.

DOBBS: You, obviously, are studying all of this activity. What are you seeing in either atmospheric conditions or water currents that is compelling this kind of trend? LANDSEA: It appears that this heightened activity is due to changes in the Atlantic Ocean. It's a natural cycle where the water warms up and the atmosphere above becomes more conducive for the breeding grounds in hurricanes. And it tends to last from 25 to 40 years of this warm water conditions in very active hurricanes. We're only about 10 years into this current cycle.

So, we may have many more to experience.

DOBBS: Well, with all of our fellow citizens in Florida looking at the prospect of another powerful storm hitting them a third in short order, they probably don't want to think about this. But is there any way to tell where the peak is? Could this be the peak or are you suggesting that we're going to see even greater activity?

LANDSEA: Well, we do know that for a calendar year, that middle of September is about the peak of activity. We've had a record- breaking August and also a very busy early September. It is really anyone's guess whether it will continue. But we have seen years where October and even early November can see some very strong hurricanes and some large impacts.

DOBBS: I think this is where you basically said we should just hope all for the very best. Chris Landsea, we thank you very much from the National Hurricane Center.

LANDSEA: Thank you.

DOBBS: Coming up next here, "Intelligence Matters." It's a new book sharply criticizing the president's handling of the war on terror and our national security capabilities. I'll be joined by Senator Bob Graham next.

And exporting a symbol of America to foreign countries. An intense battle is underway tonight for a contract which will have a direct impact on national security. And we'll have that special report as well. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Senator Bob Graham of Florida is the author of a new book that offers sharp criticism of President Bush and the intelligence community in what Senator Graham calls the failed war on terror. The book is titled "Intelligence Matters; The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia, and the Failure of America's War on Terror." In it Senator Graham asserts among other things that America is less secure today than on September 11, 2001.

Senator Graham served 10 years on the Senate select committee on intelligence and he joins us tonight from Washington, D.C. Senator, good to have you with us. Congratulations on this new book.

The assertions that you make about the president's conduct, very serious charges, Senator.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), FLORIDA: Yes, they are. Before we turn to that, Lou, if I could just extend my sympathy and best wishes to the people of Florida who have been through two hurricanes and the people in the Caribbean who just suffered such losses. We wish that all will be spared from further damage.

DOBBS: Senator, those are appropriate wishes, and we certainly, all of us here, join you in extending those wishes. This storm looks -- if one can imagine -- it looks possibly even worse than Hurricane Frances.

Turning to the issue of intelligence and the failures of the Bush administration, in your judgment, what is, in your best judgment, the single greatest failure on the part of the president himself and his decision-making?

GRAHAM: Losing the focus on the war on terror. In February of 2002, we had al Qaeda by the neck and were in a position to kill or detain Osama bin Laden and crush al Qaeda. What we had done was smash our fists down on a blob of mercury and it had burst out into many droplets.

At that point, we dropped the ball and began to change our direction and our priorities to Iraq. As General Franks says, we began to redeploy our critical military, intelligence personnel and equipment from winning the war in Afghanistan to getting ready to start the war 14 months later in Iraq.

DOBBS: And amongst the most specific charges that you make are related to a Saudi by the name of al-Bayoumi who befriended and perhaps supported two of the terrorists of September 11. Tell us why there was never a follow-up in your judgment, even though you were personally in your committee personally was involved in looking into that. Why there was never a follow-up by, apparently, anyone to that connection?

GRAHAM: Because there was a cover-up. In our final report of the House/Senate joint inquiry into 9/11, we had a 27-page section of the report which laid out in detail this Saudi connection through al- Bayoumi and others to the terrorists.

All of that was censored by the president. Also we've learned later that there were key witnesses that were denied to us, including denial to issue and serve a subpoena whose denial was a direct result of the orders coming out of the White House.

DOBBS: And what did the investigators say to you and to your committee following that failure?

GRAHAM: Well, what has happened is that we've continued to be very compliant with Saudi Arabia, such as when the Saudis came to the president immediately after 9/11 and asked to have 140 flown with a 747 out of the United States, even though the FBI says they wanted to interrogate several of those on the manifest, they all left.

We've had this good cop/bad cop where the ambassador from Saudi Arabia says my hands are clean, give me the opportunity to demonstrate that we didn't have anything to do with the terrorist and the president says no, that's all classified.

So, the Saudis get the benefit of appearing to want to come clean, and the president placed the heavy of saying for national security reasons, we can't let you do it.

DOBBS: Senator Bob Graham, we thank you for being here. The title of the senator's new book, an important new book, "Intelligence Matters; The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia and the Failure of America's War on Terror."

A reminder now to vote on our poll. The question, "do you believe the war on terror should be properly referred to as the war on terror or the war on radical Islamist terrorists?" Cast your vote at cnn.com/lou. We'll have the results coming up here just a little later.

Still ahead, one of the world's most highly respected economists has broken with the orthodoxy about whether the shipment of American jobs to cheap foreign labor markets is really so good for all of us and our economy. We'll have that very important story.

And then, a growing battle over whether the helicopter that transports the president of the United States should be made in the USA. That story, a great deal more, still ahead. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Manufacturing jobs continue to stream out of this country overseas. Tonight, a number of specialized jobs are at risk of being exported to foreign countries. Those jobs are not only prestigious, but critical to our national security: The design and manufacture of the fleet of helicopters that will carry the president of the United States.

Lisa Sylvester reports from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What's up for grabs is more than money -- it's prestige: The honor of building the helicopter that will shuttle the president around. The battle pits United Technology's Sikorsky Aircraft Company against a Lockheed Martin and European team.

The Sikorsky team is promising to build all 132 Marine One helicopters in the United States. Lockheed will farm out between 10 to 35 percent of the work to foreign companies, a sore point for labor unions.

TOM BUFFENBARGER, MACHINISTS & AEROSPACE WORKERS: There was a day in America when a Lockheed product was made Lockheed through and through from beginning to end, from the smallest component to the finished product.

SYLVESTER: Lockheed Martin, aware of the backlash against sending work overseas, has, in the last month, signed up more American subcontractors to work on the project.

The company is also winning over Congressional lawmakers by promising jobs to their district. New York State would receive 700 new Lockheed related jobs.

REP. SHERWOOD BOEHLERT (R), NEW YORK: But it's not just New York. It's a GE engine in Massachusetts, and the air frame by Bell Helicopter out of Texas. As a matter of fact, 41 states have subcontracts on this in their states that would provide jobs for America.

SYLVESTER: But Sikorsky says if Lockheed gets the contract, it will mean a net job loss in the United States. The contract is worth $1.6 billion.

Then there's the debate over which helicopter is better. Lockheed has three engines to Sikorsky's two, but Sikorsky says its chopper is the quietest, smoothest, safest ride.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the cat's meow right here in the helicopter world. You're sitting in it.

SYLVESTER: Sikorski also has history on its side. It's had the Marine One contract for nearly 50 years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): Aside from the honor of building the Marine One fleet, this contract will also likely lead to a financial jackpot -- $40 billion worth of contracts to build military search and rescue helicopters.

But because this is such a political hot potato, the Pentagon has decided to delay the decision until after the election -- Lou?

DOBBS: So much seems to be delayed until after the presidential election. Lisa Sylvester, thank you very much.

A highly respected Nobel Prize winning economist tonight has broken with conventional academic orthodoxy when it comes to the issue of the exporting of America -- the outsourcing of American jobs to cheap overseas labor markets. And this is the first break in the orthodoxy.

Noted MIT economist Paul Samuelson says that the popular economic theory that international trade in any form will automatically benefit the American economy is, quote, "dead wrong." Samuelson has written an essay that disputes the ideas held by many mainstream economists, such as Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and, notably, White House Economic Advisor Gregory Mankiw.

In Samuelson's essay, he writes that the gains from exporting American jobs and know-how to foreign countries will not necessarily outweigh the losses suffered by American workers, as those who defend free trade at any cost often argue. The essay will be published in the distinguished "Journal of Economic Perspectives." On Wall Street today, the Dow dropped more than 24 points; the Nasdaq gained 19; the S&P 500 up two.

Coming up next, the results of our poll, our preview of what's ahead tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: The results now of tonight's poll: three-quarters of you say "The War on Terror" should be properly called "The War Against Radical Islamist Terrorists."

Thanks for being with us. Please join us here tomorrow. "TIME" magazine correspondent Vivian Walt, Middle Eastern studies professor Fouad Ajami. We'll be talking about radical Islamist terrorism.

Good night from New York. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" is next.

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