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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Deadly Iraq; Operation Lightning; Pushing Democracy; EU Constitution Rejected; America's High Schools Lacking
Aired June 01, 2005 - 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.
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good evening, everybody. Tonight, drug companies and the FDA are accused of a conspiracy of silence over drug safety. The congressman who makes that charge is our guest.
Public high schools are facing unprecedented criticism. I'll be talking to a leading educator who says politicians, businesses and the schools are to blame.
And a shocking security breach along our southern border. The citizens of a country that sponsors terrorism smuggled into the United States.
Our top story tonight is the war in Iraq. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Richard Myers, today conceded that insurgent attacks are becoming more lethal. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says democracy in Iraq is "tough stuff." More American troops were killed in Iraq in May that any month since January.
Jamie McIntyre has our report -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty, (NO AUDIO) General Richard Myers said that while the number of attacks has actually decreased in Iraq by some 20 percent in recent weeks, the deadliness of those attacks has gone up because of the increased use of suicide bombers and roadside and vehicle bombs.
For the U.S. military, as you said, the month of May has been the deadliest since Iraq's January 30 elections. Seventy-nine U.S. troops have been killed. Nearly 10 times as many Iraqis have died during the same period, more than 770, including Iraqi police, army, as well as innocent by standers.
Still, General Myers insists that the insurgents have been forced to change their tactics because of the persuasiveness and the pervasiveness of U.S. and Iraqi forces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF CHAIRMAN: I think you should be encouraged, though, by the number of independent Iraqi operations that are going on. There were -- are I think -- or some of them may have ended. But over the last couple of weeks, five operations that were independent Iraqi operations, 30 that were combined with coalition forces, which is a much different mixture than we had just several months ago. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, Myers says that political progress remains the key to success in Iraq. And he insisted that the Iraqi people, by and large, were not buying the insurgents' line, something he called violence, murder and mayhem.
At the same briefing, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that democracy is hard. "It's tough stuff," he said. "It takes time," but he says the closer Iraq gets to developing a new constitution, the more loss of it is -- it is for the insurgents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The Shias are reaching out to the Sunnis and allowing them to come into the constitutional drafting process in a very constructive and healthy way. So there's an awful lot good that's happening in that country, as well as the periodic attacks that take place and the regrettable deaths that occur.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, today in Iraq, a senior Shiite Muslim cleric said that the Iraqi government has opened indirect talks with Sunni members who are believed to be allied with the insurgents. The idea there, again, is to try to convince them to come into the government process and lay down their arms. And ultimately, that's how the U.S. hopes that this insurgency will be defeated, not through military means, because if it was military alone it would take years and years to accomplish -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much. Jamie McIntyre.
Well, General Richard Myers also praised Operation Lightning. This is the huge Iraqi security operation in Baghdad. The Iraqis say 40,000 police and troops are taking part in the offensive.
Jane Arraf has our report from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Day three of Operation Lightning, the biggest Iraqi operation so far in Baghdad and Iraq. The streets are relatively normal.
Just outside of this military base, as we went out earlier today, a suicide car bomb, though. According to military officials here, 15 people were injured. No one killed but the suicide bomber.
Despite that, as we drove down that road, that Airport Road, and other streets in Baghdad, life was relatively normal. The shops are open despite warnings from the interior and defense minister that they were going flood the city with 40,000 Iraqi soldiers and police.
It doesn't look as if there are 40,000. That number may have been slightly overestimated. But there are considerably more police apparent, more army.
We went out on a raid last night, overnight, with Iraqi army troops who were going house to house, searching entire neighborhoods as they cordoned them off with the help of U.S. forces. People there were cooperative.
Iraqi forces say they rounded up 100 people in that area and others overnight. All of them suspected insurgents. Some of them they believe who may have been involved in cells that are planting roadside bombs and launching kidnappings.
Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Iraq's push towards democracy was the focus of a top- level meeting in Washington today. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the Iraqi foreign minister tonight.
Andrea Koppel at the State Department has our report -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Kitty, Secretary Rice's meeting today with Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, comes just two weeks after Secretary Rice herself made a surprise visit to Iraq for the first time since she came into office and just a couple of weeks after her deputy, Bob Zoellick, himself made two visits to Iraq. It's part of an intensified effort by the Bush administration to be much more hands on now that we have a new democratically elected, albeit interim, Iraqi government that is in place.
Among the priorities of this administration, another deadline that is looming not far on the horizon. In fact, just two weeks from now, and that is a new -- this is going to be another conference on Iraq that's going to be co-hosted by the U.S., the European Union, and the Iraqis on what? Well, on trying to get international support for Iraq, trying to kind of match up what Iraq needs on the ground with various donors. They've invited about 80 countries and other international organizations to try to come to Brussels later this month to meet up and really just meet hands on and try to pair up the resources with the needs.
You also know that Secretary Rice has another looming -- looming date on her horizon, and that is August 15. That's when Iraq is supposed to have its new constitution written. She was asked about that at today's press conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I am very comfortable with the commitment of the Iraqi government to a process that is inclusive. As the foreign minister has just said, this is a constitution that will be for the future of Iraq. And that means all Iraqis need to be included.
I just need to say that the Iraqis have met every political challenge that has been put before them. The transfer of sovereignty, the elections that were held on January 30, of course the writing of the transitional administrative law, and they now are meeting the challenge of the development of a constitutional process that will be inclusive and create a constitution of which all Iraqis can be proud.
I'm then quite certain that the elections will be held. That will then bring a permanent government into power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: The key here is inclusiveness. As everyone knows by now, Iraq is a multiethnic, multicultural society. The Shia are the majority power there. And what is written between the lines in Secretary Rice's comment there, Kitty, is the fact that the Sunnis need to be -- the minority Sunnis need to be included in writing this constitution.
There is a committee in place, 55 members. Only one of them are Sunnis -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much. Andrea Koppel.
Well, there's also been a sharp escalation of violence in Afghanistan. Today, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people inside a mosque in the city of Kandahar. More than 40 other people were wounded.
Now, the bomb exploded as mourners attended the funeral of a pro- government cleric. The cleric was assassinated on Sunday. The dead in today's bombing include the police chief of Kabul.
The war in Afghanistan was one of the top issues today at a meeting between President Bush and the NATO secretary-general. NATO troops are playing a bigger role in security and reconstruction in Afghanistan. President Bush and the secretary-general also discussed NATO missions in Iraq and Africa.
Suzanne Malveax has our report -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty, it was a brief meeting between President Bush and the NATO secretary- general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Of course President Bush acknowledging the lead role that NATO plays in the peacekeeping effort in Afghanistan. The hope, of course, is that U.S. military would be freed up to look for Taliban and al Qaeda in that country.
Now, earlier, the secretary-general said, however, that NATO would not be taking the lead role when it comes to eradicating poppy or heroin production in that country. It has become quite a problem for the peacekeeping effort there.
As for Iraq, the secretary-general reiterated NATO's role in training Iraqi troops, forces there. Said there was no immediate plan for combat forces. Certainly sensitive to the needs of NATO members. Both President Bush and the secretary-general said that that was satisfactory. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: NATO is a place where not only do we work to -- work on defensive measures to protect our respective people, but it's a place where we are proud to strategize as to how to promote values of -- universal values of democracy and freedom and human rights and human dignity.
JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: I'm sure that NATO will also in the coming -- in the coming time will be an important political military organization, enhancing political dialogue within -- within NATO. That's what it's -- that's what it's all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, the focus of both men is what they were actually talking about, President Bush and South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, who met earlier today, and that, of course, is NATO'S role when it comes to the Darfur region of Sudan, where people have suffered genocide, the enhanced role that NATO will be taking. They talked about a logistical role.
They will be providing transportation, as well as lodging, saying that this would be in addition to the African Union, the peacekeeping troops that are already there. The hope is, of course, to triple that force that is there. And, of course, they also talked about the sensitivity, Mbeki saying that it would be an African role, primarily, that that would be the most appropriate way for NATO to help out in that region -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much. Suzanne Malveaux.
Well, there are new developments tonight at the United Nations. The U.N. has fired the first employee over the multibillion-dollar oil-for-food scandal. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan fired the employee, Joseph Stephanides, for steering a lucrative contract to a British firm. Stephanides most recently served as an administrator for the U.N. Security Council.
Still to come, smuggling bust, how the citizens of a country that supports terrorism have been smuggled into the United States.
And hero or villain? Deep Throat divides the nation more than 30 years after Watergate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Tonight, federal officials have announced a major human smuggling bust in Arizona. A Middle Eastern businessman is now accused of trying to smuggle Iranians into the country over the Mexican border.
Casey Wian reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looks like a tailor shop in any American strip mall. But according to federal investigators and a grand jury indictment, this Mesa, Arizona, business was the headquarters of an Iranian illegal alien smuggling ring.
After an eight-month undercover investigation by the FBI, the Border Patrol and ICE, agents arrested and charged the tailor shop owner, 39-year-old Zeayadali Malhamdary, with attempting to smuggle illegal aliens into the United States using phony Mexican visas.
DEBORAH MCCARLEY, FBI: He would he have individuals have false Mexican visas placed into their passports and would fly them into Mexico, and then have them smuggled over the border from Mexico into the U.S.
WIAN: The scheme called for the Iranians to sneak across the U.S. border near Nogales, Arizona. Undercover agents said they recorded 16 phone calls during which the scheme was discussed.
Ultimately, Malhamdary agreed to pay $12,000 to an undercover agent to stamp fake visas in three Iranian passports. Agents also say during a conversation in the parking lot of his business Malhamdary admitted to smuggling 60 Iranians into the United States on previous occasions.
Malhamdary, a legal resident of the United States, remains in custody at the Maricopa County Jail. Federal agents say he told them he was only helping Iranians apply for refugee status.
However, the owner of a neighboring business says several months ago he asked if she could assist with makeup for disguises. She declined.
If convicted, Malhamdary faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI says it has no indication of any terrorist connection in this case. Still, the U.S. considers Iran a state sponsor of terrorism.
Meanwhile, Mexican interior minister Santiago Creel, who resigned today to run for Mexico's presidency, talked tough on terrorism.
SANTIAGO CREEL, FMR. MEXICAN INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): We have worked under a vision of shared responsibility with a clear aim to prevent international terrorism from using our geographic vicinity.
WIAN: Despite that, in a meeting with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Creel criticized the Real I.D. Act, which is aimed at identifying potential terrorists and illegal aliens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: As the Iranian smuggling case demonstrates, there's much to be done on both sides of the border to stop terrorists from crossing. The FBI says this case is indicative of its efforts to identify vulnerabilities to our nation's security -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: I would say it definitely does identify them. Thanks very much. Casey Wian.
In Washington today, one of the most highly respected members of the Bush administration announced his resignation. The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, William Donaldson, is expected to leave by the end of the month.
Christine Romans reports from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In two-and-a- half years at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bill Donaldson earned the praise of the investors and the scorn of the executive suite.
WILLIAM DONALDSON, SEC CHAIRMAN: On each and every issue I've had one thought in mind, and that is, is this in the public interest, is it in the investor interest? And that's been my guiding light.
ROMANS: A legendary Wall Street player, he founded an investment bank by the time he was 30 and later ran the New York Stock Exchange. This consummate insider stepped forward during the worst corporate scandals in American history to reform Wall Street.
Among his successes, powerful secretive hedge funds now must register with the SEC. Mutual fund chairmen are now independent. Wall Street firms coughed up $1.4 billion for bias (ph) research. And Donaldson has blasted hefty CEO pay and shady corporate ethics.
He's widely seen as the man who restored credibility to Wall Street and the SEC. The few critics out there say there is further to go.
ANDREW STOLTMANN, CHICAGO PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY: A very long way to go to really protect investors. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer time and time again has beat the SEC to the punch. And he's in charge of an organization that's one tenth the size of the SEC.
ROMANS: Donaldson steps down just as the backlash builds against important Sarbanes-Oxley reform legislation, reforms that CEOs complain costs too much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: That means the next chairman of the CEO will have to stay tough with corporate America, which is a well-funded and powerful lobby, and keep reform moving ahead -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Christine, let's just ask you something on a separate note. The New York Stock Exchange halted trading today. And we know you keep your eye on that very carefully. Do we know what happened and what that means for investors?
ROMANS: They're calling it a communications problem. About four minutes until the closing bell, the stock exchange had to halt trading. The Amex did as well.
All of the post-settlement trades will have to be -- wait until tomorrow. So if you had a late in the day, that means it's going to have to be tomorrow. All of those late trades have been canceled -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: OK. It's manana. Thanks very much.
ROMANS: Manana indeed.
PILGRIM: Christine Romans.
All right. Coming up next, Deep Throat revealed as a top official at the FBI. New questions about whether his actions were heroic or villainous. Our special report is next on that.
And then, new and dangerous charges against some drug companies. Why one U.S. congressman says drug makers aren't doing enough to test the safety of drugs already on the market.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: President Bush was among the many people who reacted today to the unmasking of Deep Throat. The president said he was surprised when former FBI official Mark Felt announced that he was "The Washington Post" secret Watergate source more than 30 years ago. Well, the revelation has sparked a debate both inside and outside the beltway about whether Felt was a hero or a villain.
Bill Schneider reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK JONES, MARK FELT'S GRANDSON: But as he recently told my mother, I guess people used to think Deep Throat was a criminal, but now they think he's a hero.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Apparently one person who changed his mind about Deep Throat was Deep Throat.
TIM NOAH, SLATE.COM: I asked him, I said, well, would it be such a terrible thing to be Deep Throat? And he said yes, it would be. It's a terrible thing to do to the FBI, to leak details of a criminal investigation.
SCHNEIDER: If you want to impugn Mark Felt's character, it's not hard to do.
HOWARD KURTZ, CNN'S "RELIABLE SOURCES": Well, he lied about his role, begin Deep Throat. He later was indicted for other Watergate- related activities.
SCHNEIDER: Felt's motives may not have been so pure.
DAVID GERGEN, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: This was a fellow who was also trying to get even with Richard Nixon for not appointing him as director of the FBI, that there was a revenge factor here.
SCHNEIDER: Felt's critics say, if he saw wrongdoing in the White House, he had other options.
CHUCK COLSON, FMR. NIXON WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: He could have walked into Pat Gray's office, the director of the FBI, and said, here are things that are going in the White House that need to be exposed. The president needs to know about this.
SCHNEIDER: Oh, come on, says this author who has written a history of the FBI.
RONALD KESSLER, AUTHOR "THE BUREAU": The fact is that Nixon was trying to cover up this whole investigation. He was trying to suppress it. That is certainly why Mark Felt cooperated with Woodward.
SCHNEIDER: It's easy to say, well, both sides committed wrongs, no heroes, no villains.
NOAH: You kind of have a law-breaker, breaking the whistle -- I'm sorry, blowing the whistle on a law-breaker, so no one's really a hero here.
SCHNEIDER: CNN got lots of messages from viewers who took a larger perspective. This one wrote, "In all the talk about motives and honor, no one has ever said that anything he said wasn't true."
This viewer urged a sense of proportion: "Saying he was somehow dishonorable is like a bank robber attempting to get his case thrown out by claiming the arresting officer had to jaywalk to cuff him."
At least one figure from the Nixon White House believes most Americans will see the larger picture.
LEONARD GARMENT, FMR NIXON WHITE HOUSE ATTORNEY: Every secret deserves a decent burial, and I think that this particular secret will probably receive a state funeral.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): Could it be that two wrongs do make a right? You might say that when people feel the wrongdoing by one side endangers the republic.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Tonight's quote of the day comes from one of the reporters who broke the Watergate story, Carl Bernstein. And his comment is particularly relevant in today's era of journalism, where freedom of the press has become an increasingly controversial issue. And here's the quote.
"This is a case history and a case lesson of why it is so important that we have confidential sources. If you were to look back at the original stories, I think hardly any of them had named sources."
And that brings us to the subject of tonight's poll. Do you think the journalists should be allowed to keep their sources confidential, yes or no? Cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll bring you the results a little bit later in the broadcast.
Coming up, a new report says the FDA and drug companies are not monitoring the safety of drugs already on the market. The congressman behind the report will tell us how he's planning to take action.
And Europe divided, why the EU constitution won't fly in France and the Netherlands, and what it means for the future of Europe-U.S. relations.
Then massive landslide without warning in California. Homes destroyed. How authorities are trying to secure the area, still ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: News, debate and opinion continues. Sitting in for Lou Dobbs is Kitty Pilgrim.
PILGRIM: Well, my next guest is taking on drug companies and the FDA for what he calls a conspiracy of silence. Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts says many drug companies are abusing the FDA's accelerated approval program for drugs that treat life-threatening diseases. And he says drug makers are failing to conduct vital follow-up study on the drugs after they hit the market.
And Congressman Markey has just released an extensive report detailing the charges and he joins me now.
And thanks for being here.
REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Thank you for having me in.
PILGRIM: Let's clear this up. These are drugs that were basically put through quickly so that they could save lives. And the FDA requires additional testing to make sure they're OK. They're not doing the additional testing, that's what you found in many cases.
MARKEY: That's right. So, in other words, because the drug is so important, because it can save lives, they go right around the regulatory process. They're approved quickly, but with safety and effectiveness tests which have yet to be completed.
The drug company promises that they will complete the tests. But what I found in looking at FDA records is that drug companies go three, four, five, six, seven years, sometimes, before they actually finish all of these safety and effectiveness tests. Meanwhile, patients and doctors are using these drugs without knowing whether or not, in fact, they have passed these exams.
PILGRIM: There are some startling statistics that you've turned up: 42 of the -- 42 of the drugs that were required by the FDA to have follow-up testing, 42 of 91 did not since is the 1992. That's a good percentage, and yet many people, I'm sure, are quite happy to get the drugs if they are in a life-threatening illness.
I was particularly struck by the -- an example of a lung cancer drug that, of course, you would want immediately if you could get it, and yet later testing proved that it had absolutely no effect whatsoever, potentially harmless. Why would that be a problem?
MARKEY: It would be a problem because people, in many instances, because they know they have these illnesses, will pay anything and they should know as soon as possible that the drug is not effective, because then they, with their physician, might be able to construct some other strategy. But the patient has a right to know that the drug is not effective, and as soon as possible. Here, what we're finding is that these safety and effectiveness tests are not completed for years after approval has been given.
PILGRIM: Yes, in this case, it was $1,800 a month for this particular drug, and they could be taking something else. That's the other point, isn't it?
MARKEY: They could be taking something else, and moreover, there is no requirement by the FDA that this conditional approval be put on the label. In other words, the doctor and the patient aren't even told on the label that it's a conditional approval. The doctor or the patient would have to go to the FDA website, the drug company website, to find that out but they wouldn't see it, obviously, when they were purchasing the drug or consuming it on a daily basis.
PILGRIM: Now, the FDA, we did speak to them. They say they closely monitor the process and in some cases the additional trials can take years to complete, so that's what they are saying about this when we spoke to them today. But, you're saying there is a way to fix this and you're suggesting alternate labeling, that you have a label on the drug that says accelerated approval. Do you think that would clear things up or would that just confuse issues?
MARKEY: Well, I think that if each patient and physician understood that the approval for the drug was only conditional, not permanent, that that would put real pressure on the FDA and the drug company to complete all of the tests as quickly as possible.
And, secondly, I also propose that there be fines which are possible to be imposed by the FDA on the drug company. In other words, right now the drug company keeps it on the market because the FDA doesn't have the nerve to take it off the market because it could be life-saving. But there is no penalty if the drug company drags its feet in conducting these tests. PILGRIM: Well, we certainly applaud your efforts, and thanks very much for explaining them to us, tonight, Congressman Ed Markey. Thank you.
MARKEY: Thank you for having me on.
PILGRIM: Well, more than 270 students from across the country and some U.S. territories are gathered in Washington, D.C. tonight and they're competing in the 78th Annual Scripps Spelling National Bee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lederhosen. L-e-d-e-r-h-o-s-e-n. Lederhosen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Well, the students are up against a list of nearly 1,000 words. First place winner will receive $28,000 in cash. The scholarship, bonds and that winner will be named when the contest ends tomorrow. It always makes me so nervous to watch that.
Still ahead, Europe divided. How will growing opposition to an EU Constitution affect the United States?
Also, later, why one New York City councilman says a language barrier could pose a dangerous threat to residents in his district. He's my guest when we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Another huge setback tonight for advocates of a more integrated Europe. Voters in the Netherlands today rejected the proposed European constitution. The vote was 62 percent to 38 percent. Now, this Dutch referendum follows the French vote against the constitution on Sunday. The French vote was a massive blow to the prestige of French President Jacques Chirac. Chirac, of course, is one of Europe's strongest critics of the United States.
Well, joining me now is John Hulsman. He's a research fellow at the Heritage Federation, and thanks very much for being here.
JOHN HULSMAN, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Pleasure.
PILGRIM: And, high drama in Europe, a tough blow for Chirac, but I guess the sort of internal politics of Europe for most American viewers are kind of over the top. What does it mean to the United States this is sort of limping along at this point?
HULSMAN: It is limping along, Kitty and I think we have to look at Europe as it is. I think the days of us reading EU communiques and believing in a Europe whole and free and united which are words that trip off the American tongue really doesn't sum up a Europe that is divided in a couple ways.
It's divided between countries who have very different views of what kind of Europe they want, and it is divided, as we can see, between the rulers and their people in a number of states. The elitism in France, met by a resounding thud from both the left and the right in the country, and then in the Netherlands, every major political party is in favor of this thing, and yet the people overwhelmingly vote no. I think it leads America to look at things in Europe on an issue-by-issue, case-by-base basis. Stop believing the communiques about unity and start working with people case-by-case.
PILGRIM: Mm-hm. Is the French "no" on this basically going to torpedo it? I know that other referendums and other processes are scheduled. Will they be rolled back or maybe discontinued?
HULSMAN: Well, I mean, that's the question. In mid-June we're going to find out, but I have to say that if they go forward and ignore the people's will -- this is exactly the people's argument against the European Union -- in the past, in referendum, if people disagree they say, well' just keep voting until we get the right result.
To Americans' Jeffersonian eye this is not the way to run any kind of polity that calls itself a democracy. I think it's very important that they heed the wishes of the people. They see that the EU elite have far outrun what their people want, and occasionally they really have to be listened to, and there, in our little Jeffersonian way, I think America has a lot to teach Europe.
PILGRIM: The Chirac government had to reshuffle a bit. What does this mean to French-U.S. relations, which have been quite a discussion since the Iraq war.
HULSMAN: I was going to say, I've dined on that for most of my life. What it means is that former Foreign Minister de Villepin comes into power as prime minister. He is Chirac's closest ally. Remember, he was the guy that led the charge against the U.S. prior to the Iraq war.
I don't think it's going to make relations better, and internally, this is a guy who's never held elected office in his life. The French government reminds me of the former kings of France, the Bourbons, when they came to power after the revolution. They seemed to have learned nothing, and I think putting him into power shows that France is likely to remain a country with which the United States has a lot of friction and a lot of internal division.
PILGRIM: So, it polarized the issue, perhaps a bit. What does this mean for NATO?
HULSMAN: Well, I think in terms of NATO, actually, things are looking up. Schroeder, Gerhard Schroeder, the chancellor of Germany, due to their horrible economic situation has been forced to call elections. It looks like the CDU, the Christian Democrats, in Germany, are going to come to power, led by a woman named Angela Merkel. She is much more pro-American than the chancellor. Anybody we get in France will be more pro-American than Chirac, if, say, Nicolas Sarkozy is the most likely candidate in the next two years. So, we could get leaders in both France and Germany, who although they don't love the United States, are much more willing to work with it. So, in the short run, I think that's the story.
In the longer run, the story we have to see Europe as it really is, a wonderfully diverse area where unity is really a very rare thing, indeed.
PILGRIM: You know, Tony Blair said this whole thing brings up the question of the future of Europe. Do you think it's that dire?
HULSMAN: I think it is that dire. For 50 years, the Europeans have put off answering any kind of existential questions. What are we doing? Who are we? Where are we going? Because they know that the answers are different.
What the British want is a pro-American, pro-free trade kind of bloc. What the French want, is a protectionist, anti-American kind of bloc. The only way to make this thing work, is to keep things vague and don't ask too many big questions. The voters of Europe have finally said, look we really want big questions to be asked and answered. And, you know, it's 50 years overdue, but I welcome that.
PILGRIM: John Hulsman, thanks for helping us sort it out. Thanks very much.
HULSMAN: Pleasure, Kitty.
PILGRIM: Well, a reminder to vote in tonight's poll. "Do you think that journalists should be allowed to keep the sources confidential? Yes or no?" Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll bring you the results in just a few minutes.
And coming up at the top of the hour here on CNN, "ANDERSON COOPER 360." And Anderson joins us with a preview -- Anderson.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Kitty, thanks very much.
Yeah. Tonight on 360, a landslide hammering a posh neighborhood in Southern California, destroying homes, sending residents scurrying for their lives. The Earth is still set to be shifting out there. More homes teetering and perhaps ready to slide. We're going to bring you a report from the community of Laguna Beach. And talk to a homeowner whose house is underneath a home about to fall.
Also, an update on the story we brought you last week about the boy in Florida who was hit by his bus driver, then hit back. That's the video right there. It was all caught on tape. He and his stepbrother were all charged with felonies. The state's attorney made some decisions about those charges today against the kids. And we'll tell you about them at the top of the hour in about 20 minutes -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thank you very much, Anderson Cooper.
Still to come, plain English: How these signs are causing controversy in one of our biggest cities. We'll tell you all about that. And why my next guest says America's public high school system is under relentless attack. I'll be joined by the president of group aimed as preparing America's youth for professional careers. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Immigrant communities are growing in this country. And there are many neighborhoods where English is not the primary language. The signs on the shops are often not in English at all.
Well New York City Councilman Tony Avella says the problem has become so extreme in his district that police and firemen often don't know exactly which building they are looking for in the case of an emergency. And he wants the signs to be more clear. Councilman Avella joins me now. And thanks very much for being here.
TONY AVELLA, (D) NYC COUNCILMAN: Thank you for having me on the show.
PILGRIM: Is it simply an issue of clarity for you?
AVELLA: Correct. It really is a public safety issue. If police, fire, EMS, can't respond to an emergency, we are putting people's lives in danger. I'm introducing legislation that would require half the signage to be in English.
This would allow somebody, a business owner, to promote their own culture and heritage, but at the same time make sure that the predominant English speaking people could read the sign and so could police, fire and EMS.
PILGRIM: Is it a question of cultural sensitivity versus common sense? I'm sure there is some kind of discussion about this, because it's New York and of course there has to be a discussion.
AVELLA: I fully expect this to be a controversial subject. But it's a safety issue. It's also a good neighbor issue. As I mentioned, English is the predominant language. And I think it's incumbent on any immigrant group to in effect have part of the sign in English.
PILGRIM: Now your district is in Queens, in the northern section. And what ethnic groups are in your -- primarily in your district.
AVELLA: Well, I would say it's Korean, Chinese, Italian, Jewish, German.
PILGRIM: You know, historically, though, New York has had these neighborhoods that are so culturally intense. It is kind of something that New Yorkers embrace. Are you getting some kind of discussion about trying to break that up a bit?
AVELLA: No. I think for the most people -- for the most part, people work together in the city. It is just become a situation where when you can't read the signage, people feel intimidated. They feel left out in their own neighborhood.
Putting at least half of it in English, I think, is, again, a good neighbor policy. It's a safety issue. And it makes people work together rather than separating communities and separating neighbors.
PILGRIM: You know, it does go to a broader issue. And that's trying to integrate immigrants quickly, the melting pot theory in the United States. Do you think that it also plays a role in that?
AVELLA: Oh, absolutely. I don't think we do new immigrants any great service by not helping them assimilate into the culture, by not helping them learn English. It should be a situation where we encourage them to become part of our society. And English is the common denominator. And always has been.
PILGRIM: Now, this will cost money, changing signs, this will cost money. Where does that come from?
AVELLA: Well, my bill does not say we have to change all the signage immediately. What it would basically do is any new business opening up, they would have to have this requirement. So in effect the existing businesses would be grandfathered in. And over time, we would change the signage.
PILGRIM: All right. Well, we certainly applaud your efforts. Although we do love our New York with all of its ethnic groups and it's just so much fun to go to all the different areas.
AVELLA: Well, this would certainly keep that and enhance our cultural diversity in the city, too.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much for being with us.
AVELLA: Thank you for having me.
PILGRIM: Well, supporters of tough immigration laws say we can learn important lessons from previous crackdowns. In the late 1990s a program known as Operation Vanguard tried to check the Social Security numbers of workers in a meat packing industry. 50 people were deported, but the operation was shut down in a storm of controversy. Bill Tucker has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Checking the validity of a workers Social Security number doesn't seem controversial. Seven years ago, it invited the wrath of virtually the entire congressional delegation from Nebraska and the meat packing industry who pushed hard to put an end to an INS program known as Operation Vanguard. Vanguard's purpose: to cross check employee Social Security numbers in the meat packing industry. It was controversial from the start.
MARK KRIKORIAN, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: Everybody went nuts. The meat packers, the ranchers, the politicians in Nebraska, including the representatives in Washington, did everything in their power to make sure this never happened again. And they succeeded.
TUCKER: Operation Vanguard lasted less than a year. Many hailed it as a success. 26,000 meat packing employees were reviewed, 4500 discrepancies were found, 3500 workers left their jobs, rather than be interviewed. And 50 illegal aliens were found and deported.
Community activists, though, opposed the program saying enforcement created fear and confusion in the immigrant community.
VIRGIL ARMENDARIZ, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: I found that people that had merely failed to meet a deadline, or not completed paper properly considered themselves no longer here legally, which was not the case.
TUCKER: The industry blames Vanguard for a labor shortage, but instead of raising wages to attract workers wages, wages in the industry fell sharply. Operation Vanguard was very successful at uniting the political spectrum over the simple issue of checking Social Security numbers.
LEE TERRY, (R) NEBRASKA: And then we got the privacy folks that came out, said, oh, wait. Maybe, we're crossing the line here on this one too. So, Vanguard shutdown, ultimately, because the right and the left came together and said this isn't the right approach.
TUCKER: Critics of immigration policy say Operation Vanguard was a turning point in immigration enforcement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER (on camera): They say that when it became clear that there was no political will to continue Operation Vanguard, Kitty, the program was simply and quietly abandoned.
PILGRIM: Fascinating. Thanks very much, Bill Tucker.
Well, today marks the start of another hurricane season and an expert from Colorado State University says 15 tropical storms are expected to strike the Atlantic-Caribbean region with eight storms growing to hurricane strength. Last year, hurricanes in Florida and other parts of the Atlantic region caused more than $45 billion in destruction.
In California today a massive landslide in Laguna Beach sent homes crashing down a steep hillside. As many as 18 homes were destroyed or damaged. The landslide was caused by heavy rains earlier this year.
In Texas, rainstorms, lightning swept through San Antonio. The storm knocked out power for 100,000 people.
Still ahead, the results of tonight's poll and a preview of what is ahead tomorrow, and all -- and more than two decades of news. We'll have a special look at the past 25 years on CNN. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PILGRIM: My guest tonight says America's public high school system is under relentless attack and he says politicians, businesses and the schools themselves are to blame. Well, joining me from Orlando is John Farrendino president of the National Academy Foundation. He's a former superintendent of high schools in New York City.
And thank you very much for joining us. That's quite a badge, former superintendent of high schools in New York City, and certainly you bring with you a wealth of experience. Why are schools failing so badly?
JOHN FARRENDINO, PRESIDENT NAT'L ACADEMY FOUNDATION: Well, there are lots of very complex reasons, but the simplest is that American secondary schools, as they're presently structured, do not meet the needs of the young people who we service, and they were designed in an -- a century ago. They need to be restructured into more accountable, small, learning communities so that we can get engagement of the business community into the school and answer the question that every teenager, time immemorial has asked: why do I have to know this stuff?
So, we need to change the actual structure and accountability systems that exist within the schools.
PILGRIM: You know, I was really fascinated by your premise that the schools were built for an agricultural society. Why, and why won't they work? And, certainly reading, writing and arithmetic is still very relevant.
FARRENDINO: Oh, absolutely, it's very relevant. But, yet, the design of the school at the turn of the century was designed in a theoretical, classical curriculum base which was designed to have 30 percent of the young people be successful, and the other 70 percent to go into our factories and our farms, and those factories and farms no longer have that need. So, the schools need to change dramatically.
We need to -- the National Academy Foundation, our experience, is to create career academies using thematic approaches that turn kids on to learning and allow the business community to get actively involved so that when the young person is engaged, they can see that what they are doing in school relates to what opportunities might exist in the future for them.
PILGRIM: Give us an example of something thematically based that might...
FARRENDINO: OK, sure. A simple one and one of the academies we use is called the academy of finance, but, if you think about it, if a kid is learning their math and their social studies and their English as it relates to a theme -- and you can use business or the financial services industry -- when they are doing their algebra and the application of their algebra problems relates to how much money is earned or profit margins or all of the different kinds of machinations that take place that can take place with mathematics, using a business context, the kids then understand that the skills and tools that they are gaining are not abstract, but they're things that are actually going to apply to their everyday life.
PILGRIM: Mm-hm. And no longer the problem where, if you sell five apples for two cents each -- the sort of irrelevant stuff. It's more relevant to daily life.
Tell me a little bit about the private-public partnership. How do you get businesses involved? And, you have about 2,000 businesses involved. Why are they willing to wade into this morass?
FARRENDINO: Well, there are two reasons. Number one, American corporations, the global, major giants, understand that if they are going to maintain a competitive edge, an educated work force is the significant investment that is going to provide them with the opportunity to meet the challenges of this global economy.
On the local level, the other thing that's really significant is that American businesses, especially some of the ones that have supported the National Academy Foundation, like Citigroup and American Express in particular, historically, understand that if you can get community engagement and involvement at the local level -- the local banker, the local -- the cpa, the local company -- getting involved within their community, they also provide a pipeline of better prepared young people and they're also giving back in that community to the -- to the future of that community.
So, that -- when we say we have 2,000 businesses involved, many of them are major corporations, but most of them are local, small companies that are involved in their schools and through this vehicle we call a career academy or small learning community, we have a significant methodology of allowing them to get involved in the schools, using their expertise and turning kids on to learning.
PILGRIM: Well, we have to congratulate you on your 95 percent graduation rate for the schools that you have involved in this, and we also have to thank you for your commitment to the education field.
Thank you very much, John Farrendino.
FARRENDINO: Thank you very much, also.
PILGRIM: Well, let's go to the results of tonight's poll. Do you think the journalists should be allowed to keep their sources confidential? Here we go, 86 percent of you said yes; 14 percent of you said no.
Finally, today marks CNN's 25th anniversary. The network has covered all the major events around the globe for a quarter century. There were wars in Iraq, and we also covered the rescue of baby Jessica, the death of Princess Diana, the O.J. Simpson trial, the Challenger and the Columbia disasters and, of course, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Cold War.
Well, we'd like to congratulate everyone at CNN for the past 25 years, and more importantly, thanks to the viewers for your support.
And thanks for being with us tonight. Please join us tomorrow. We'll report on a culture war in one American community over how public schools should teach sex education.
Plus, one California mayor will tell us his plan for fixing what he calls the chaos now masquerading as a border. Please join us for that. For all of us here, good night from New York. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" starts right now.
END
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Aired June 1, 2005 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good evening, everybody. Tonight, drug companies and the FDA are accused of a conspiracy of silence over drug safety. The congressman who makes that charge is our guest.
Public high schools are facing unprecedented criticism. I'll be talking to a leading educator who says politicians, businesses and the schools are to blame.
And a shocking security breach along our southern border. The citizens of a country that sponsors terrorism smuggled into the United States.
Our top story tonight is the war in Iraq. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Richard Myers, today conceded that insurgent attacks are becoming more lethal. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says democracy in Iraq is "tough stuff." More American troops were killed in Iraq in May that any month since January.
Jamie McIntyre has our report -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty, (NO AUDIO) General Richard Myers said that while the number of attacks has actually decreased in Iraq by some 20 percent in recent weeks, the deadliness of those attacks has gone up because of the increased use of suicide bombers and roadside and vehicle bombs.
For the U.S. military, as you said, the month of May has been the deadliest since Iraq's January 30 elections. Seventy-nine U.S. troops have been killed. Nearly 10 times as many Iraqis have died during the same period, more than 770, including Iraqi police, army, as well as innocent by standers.
Still, General Myers insists that the insurgents have been forced to change their tactics because of the persuasiveness and the pervasiveness of U.S. and Iraqi forces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF CHAIRMAN: I think you should be encouraged, though, by the number of independent Iraqi operations that are going on. There were -- are I think -- or some of them may have ended. But over the last couple of weeks, five operations that were independent Iraqi operations, 30 that were combined with coalition forces, which is a much different mixture than we had just several months ago. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, Myers says that political progress remains the key to success in Iraq. And he insisted that the Iraqi people, by and large, were not buying the insurgents' line, something he called violence, murder and mayhem.
At the same briefing, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that democracy is hard. "It's tough stuff," he said. "It takes time," but he says the closer Iraq gets to developing a new constitution, the more loss of it is -- it is for the insurgents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The Shias are reaching out to the Sunnis and allowing them to come into the constitutional drafting process in a very constructive and healthy way. So there's an awful lot good that's happening in that country, as well as the periodic attacks that take place and the regrettable deaths that occur.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, today in Iraq, a senior Shiite Muslim cleric said that the Iraqi government has opened indirect talks with Sunni members who are believed to be allied with the insurgents. The idea there, again, is to try to convince them to come into the government process and lay down their arms. And ultimately, that's how the U.S. hopes that this insurgency will be defeated, not through military means, because if it was military alone it would take years and years to accomplish -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much. Jamie McIntyre.
Well, General Richard Myers also praised Operation Lightning. This is the huge Iraqi security operation in Baghdad. The Iraqis say 40,000 police and troops are taking part in the offensive.
Jane Arraf has our report from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Day three of Operation Lightning, the biggest Iraqi operation so far in Baghdad and Iraq. The streets are relatively normal.
Just outside of this military base, as we went out earlier today, a suicide car bomb, though. According to military officials here, 15 people were injured. No one killed but the suicide bomber.
Despite that, as we drove down that road, that Airport Road, and other streets in Baghdad, life was relatively normal. The shops are open despite warnings from the interior and defense minister that they were going flood the city with 40,000 Iraqi soldiers and police.
It doesn't look as if there are 40,000. That number may have been slightly overestimated. But there are considerably more police apparent, more army.
We went out on a raid last night, overnight, with Iraqi army troops who were going house to house, searching entire neighborhoods as they cordoned them off with the help of U.S. forces. People there were cooperative.
Iraqi forces say they rounded up 100 people in that area and others overnight. All of them suspected insurgents. Some of them they believe who may have been involved in cells that are planting roadside bombs and launching kidnappings.
Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Iraq's push towards democracy was the focus of a top- level meeting in Washington today. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the Iraqi foreign minister tonight.
Andrea Koppel at the State Department has our report -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Kitty, Secretary Rice's meeting today with Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, comes just two weeks after Secretary Rice herself made a surprise visit to Iraq for the first time since she came into office and just a couple of weeks after her deputy, Bob Zoellick, himself made two visits to Iraq. It's part of an intensified effort by the Bush administration to be much more hands on now that we have a new democratically elected, albeit interim, Iraqi government that is in place.
Among the priorities of this administration, another deadline that is looming not far on the horizon. In fact, just two weeks from now, and that is a new -- this is going to be another conference on Iraq that's going to be co-hosted by the U.S., the European Union, and the Iraqis on what? Well, on trying to get international support for Iraq, trying to kind of match up what Iraq needs on the ground with various donors. They've invited about 80 countries and other international organizations to try to come to Brussels later this month to meet up and really just meet hands on and try to pair up the resources with the needs.
You also know that Secretary Rice has another looming -- looming date on her horizon, and that is August 15. That's when Iraq is supposed to have its new constitution written. She was asked about that at today's press conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I am very comfortable with the commitment of the Iraqi government to a process that is inclusive. As the foreign minister has just said, this is a constitution that will be for the future of Iraq. And that means all Iraqis need to be included.
I just need to say that the Iraqis have met every political challenge that has been put before them. The transfer of sovereignty, the elections that were held on January 30, of course the writing of the transitional administrative law, and they now are meeting the challenge of the development of a constitutional process that will be inclusive and create a constitution of which all Iraqis can be proud.
I'm then quite certain that the elections will be held. That will then bring a permanent government into power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: The key here is inclusiveness. As everyone knows by now, Iraq is a multiethnic, multicultural society. The Shia are the majority power there. And what is written between the lines in Secretary Rice's comment there, Kitty, is the fact that the Sunnis need to be -- the minority Sunnis need to be included in writing this constitution.
There is a committee in place, 55 members. Only one of them are Sunnis -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much. Andrea Koppel.
Well, there's also been a sharp escalation of violence in Afghanistan. Today, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people inside a mosque in the city of Kandahar. More than 40 other people were wounded.
Now, the bomb exploded as mourners attended the funeral of a pro- government cleric. The cleric was assassinated on Sunday. The dead in today's bombing include the police chief of Kabul.
The war in Afghanistan was one of the top issues today at a meeting between President Bush and the NATO secretary-general. NATO troops are playing a bigger role in security and reconstruction in Afghanistan. President Bush and the secretary-general also discussed NATO missions in Iraq and Africa.
Suzanne Malveax has our report -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty, it was a brief meeting between President Bush and the NATO secretary- general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Of course President Bush acknowledging the lead role that NATO plays in the peacekeeping effort in Afghanistan. The hope, of course, is that U.S. military would be freed up to look for Taliban and al Qaeda in that country.
Now, earlier, the secretary-general said, however, that NATO would not be taking the lead role when it comes to eradicating poppy or heroin production in that country. It has become quite a problem for the peacekeeping effort there.
As for Iraq, the secretary-general reiterated NATO's role in training Iraqi troops, forces there. Said there was no immediate plan for combat forces. Certainly sensitive to the needs of NATO members. Both President Bush and the secretary-general said that that was satisfactory. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: NATO is a place where not only do we work to -- work on defensive measures to protect our respective people, but it's a place where we are proud to strategize as to how to promote values of -- universal values of democracy and freedom and human rights and human dignity.
JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: I'm sure that NATO will also in the coming -- in the coming time will be an important political military organization, enhancing political dialogue within -- within NATO. That's what it's -- that's what it's all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, the focus of both men is what they were actually talking about, President Bush and South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, who met earlier today, and that, of course, is NATO'S role when it comes to the Darfur region of Sudan, where people have suffered genocide, the enhanced role that NATO will be taking. They talked about a logistical role.
They will be providing transportation, as well as lodging, saying that this would be in addition to the African Union, the peacekeeping troops that are already there. The hope is, of course, to triple that force that is there. And, of course, they also talked about the sensitivity, Mbeki saying that it would be an African role, primarily, that that would be the most appropriate way for NATO to help out in that region -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much. Suzanne Malveaux.
Well, there are new developments tonight at the United Nations. The U.N. has fired the first employee over the multibillion-dollar oil-for-food scandal. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan fired the employee, Joseph Stephanides, for steering a lucrative contract to a British firm. Stephanides most recently served as an administrator for the U.N. Security Council.
Still to come, smuggling bust, how the citizens of a country that supports terrorism have been smuggled into the United States.
And hero or villain? Deep Throat divides the nation more than 30 years after Watergate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Tonight, federal officials have announced a major human smuggling bust in Arizona. A Middle Eastern businessman is now accused of trying to smuggle Iranians into the country over the Mexican border.
Casey Wian reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looks like a tailor shop in any American strip mall. But according to federal investigators and a grand jury indictment, this Mesa, Arizona, business was the headquarters of an Iranian illegal alien smuggling ring.
After an eight-month undercover investigation by the FBI, the Border Patrol and ICE, agents arrested and charged the tailor shop owner, 39-year-old Zeayadali Malhamdary, with attempting to smuggle illegal aliens into the United States using phony Mexican visas.
DEBORAH MCCARLEY, FBI: He would he have individuals have false Mexican visas placed into their passports and would fly them into Mexico, and then have them smuggled over the border from Mexico into the U.S.
WIAN: The scheme called for the Iranians to sneak across the U.S. border near Nogales, Arizona. Undercover agents said they recorded 16 phone calls during which the scheme was discussed.
Ultimately, Malhamdary agreed to pay $12,000 to an undercover agent to stamp fake visas in three Iranian passports. Agents also say during a conversation in the parking lot of his business Malhamdary admitted to smuggling 60 Iranians into the United States on previous occasions.
Malhamdary, a legal resident of the United States, remains in custody at the Maricopa County Jail. Federal agents say he told them he was only helping Iranians apply for refugee status.
However, the owner of a neighboring business says several months ago he asked if she could assist with makeup for disguises. She declined.
If convicted, Malhamdary faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI says it has no indication of any terrorist connection in this case. Still, the U.S. considers Iran a state sponsor of terrorism.
Meanwhile, Mexican interior minister Santiago Creel, who resigned today to run for Mexico's presidency, talked tough on terrorism.
SANTIAGO CREEL, FMR. MEXICAN INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): We have worked under a vision of shared responsibility with a clear aim to prevent international terrorism from using our geographic vicinity.
WIAN: Despite that, in a meeting with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Creel criticized the Real I.D. Act, which is aimed at identifying potential terrorists and illegal aliens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: As the Iranian smuggling case demonstrates, there's much to be done on both sides of the border to stop terrorists from crossing. The FBI says this case is indicative of its efforts to identify vulnerabilities to our nation's security -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: I would say it definitely does identify them. Thanks very much. Casey Wian.
In Washington today, one of the most highly respected members of the Bush administration announced his resignation. The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, William Donaldson, is expected to leave by the end of the month.
Christine Romans reports from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In two-and-a- half years at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bill Donaldson earned the praise of the investors and the scorn of the executive suite.
WILLIAM DONALDSON, SEC CHAIRMAN: On each and every issue I've had one thought in mind, and that is, is this in the public interest, is it in the investor interest? And that's been my guiding light.
ROMANS: A legendary Wall Street player, he founded an investment bank by the time he was 30 and later ran the New York Stock Exchange. This consummate insider stepped forward during the worst corporate scandals in American history to reform Wall Street.
Among his successes, powerful secretive hedge funds now must register with the SEC. Mutual fund chairmen are now independent. Wall Street firms coughed up $1.4 billion for bias (ph) research. And Donaldson has blasted hefty CEO pay and shady corporate ethics.
He's widely seen as the man who restored credibility to Wall Street and the SEC. The few critics out there say there is further to go.
ANDREW STOLTMANN, CHICAGO PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY: A very long way to go to really protect investors. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer time and time again has beat the SEC to the punch. And he's in charge of an organization that's one tenth the size of the SEC.
ROMANS: Donaldson steps down just as the backlash builds against important Sarbanes-Oxley reform legislation, reforms that CEOs complain costs too much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: That means the next chairman of the CEO will have to stay tough with corporate America, which is a well-funded and powerful lobby, and keep reform moving ahead -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Christine, let's just ask you something on a separate note. The New York Stock Exchange halted trading today. And we know you keep your eye on that very carefully. Do we know what happened and what that means for investors?
ROMANS: They're calling it a communications problem. About four minutes until the closing bell, the stock exchange had to halt trading. The Amex did as well.
All of the post-settlement trades will have to be -- wait until tomorrow. So if you had a late in the day, that means it's going to have to be tomorrow. All of those late trades have been canceled -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: OK. It's manana. Thanks very much.
ROMANS: Manana indeed.
PILGRIM: Christine Romans.
All right. Coming up next, Deep Throat revealed as a top official at the FBI. New questions about whether his actions were heroic or villainous. Our special report is next on that.
And then, new and dangerous charges against some drug companies. Why one U.S. congressman says drug makers aren't doing enough to test the safety of drugs already on the market.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: President Bush was among the many people who reacted today to the unmasking of Deep Throat. The president said he was surprised when former FBI official Mark Felt announced that he was "The Washington Post" secret Watergate source more than 30 years ago. Well, the revelation has sparked a debate both inside and outside the beltway about whether Felt was a hero or a villain.
Bill Schneider reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK JONES, MARK FELT'S GRANDSON: But as he recently told my mother, I guess people used to think Deep Throat was a criminal, but now they think he's a hero.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Apparently one person who changed his mind about Deep Throat was Deep Throat.
TIM NOAH, SLATE.COM: I asked him, I said, well, would it be such a terrible thing to be Deep Throat? And he said yes, it would be. It's a terrible thing to do to the FBI, to leak details of a criminal investigation.
SCHNEIDER: If you want to impugn Mark Felt's character, it's not hard to do.
HOWARD KURTZ, CNN'S "RELIABLE SOURCES": Well, he lied about his role, begin Deep Throat. He later was indicted for other Watergate- related activities.
SCHNEIDER: Felt's motives may not have been so pure.
DAVID GERGEN, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: This was a fellow who was also trying to get even with Richard Nixon for not appointing him as director of the FBI, that there was a revenge factor here.
SCHNEIDER: Felt's critics say, if he saw wrongdoing in the White House, he had other options.
CHUCK COLSON, FMR. NIXON WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: He could have walked into Pat Gray's office, the director of the FBI, and said, here are things that are going in the White House that need to be exposed. The president needs to know about this.
SCHNEIDER: Oh, come on, says this author who has written a history of the FBI.
RONALD KESSLER, AUTHOR "THE BUREAU": The fact is that Nixon was trying to cover up this whole investigation. He was trying to suppress it. That is certainly why Mark Felt cooperated with Woodward.
SCHNEIDER: It's easy to say, well, both sides committed wrongs, no heroes, no villains.
NOAH: You kind of have a law-breaker, breaking the whistle -- I'm sorry, blowing the whistle on a law-breaker, so no one's really a hero here.
SCHNEIDER: CNN got lots of messages from viewers who took a larger perspective. This one wrote, "In all the talk about motives and honor, no one has ever said that anything he said wasn't true."
This viewer urged a sense of proportion: "Saying he was somehow dishonorable is like a bank robber attempting to get his case thrown out by claiming the arresting officer had to jaywalk to cuff him."
At least one figure from the Nixon White House believes most Americans will see the larger picture.
LEONARD GARMENT, FMR NIXON WHITE HOUSE ATTORNEY: Every secret deserves a decent burial, and I think that this particular secret will probably receive a state funeral.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): Could it be that two wrongs do make a right? You might say that when people feel the wrongdoing by one side endangers the republic.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Tonight's quote of the day comes from one of the reporters who broke the Watergate story, Carl Bernstein. And his comment is particularly relevant in today's era of journalism, where freedom of the press has become an increasingly controversial issue. And here's the quote.
"This is a case history and a case lesson of why it is so important that we have confidential sources. If you were to look back at the original stories, I think hardly any of them had named sources."
And that brings us to the subject of tonight's poll. Do you think the journalists should be allowed to keep their sources confidential, yes or no? Cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll bring you the results a little bit later in the broadcast.
Coming up, a new report says the FDA and drug companies are not monitoring the safety of drugs already on the market. The congressman behind the report will tell us how he's planning to take action.
And Europe divided, why the EU constitution won't fly in France and the Netherlands, and what it means for the future of Europe-U.S. relations.
Then massive landslide without warning in California. Homes destroyed. How authorities are trying to secure the area, still ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: News, debate and opinion continues. Sitting in for Lou Dobbs is Kitty Pilgrim.
PILGRIM: Well, my next guest is taking on drug companies and the FDA for what he calls a conspiracy of silence. Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts says many drug companies are abusing the FDA's accelerated approval program for drugs that treat life-threatening diseases. And he says drug makers are failing to conduct vital follow-up study on the drugs after they hit the market.
And Congressman Markey has just released an extensive report detailing the charges and he joins me now.
And thanks for being here.
REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Thank you for having me in.
PILGRIM: Let's clear this up. These are drugs that were basically put through quickly so that they could save lives. And the FDA requires additional testing to make sure they're OK. They're not doing the additional testing, that's what you found in many cases.
MARKEY: That's right. So, in other words, because the drug is so important, because it can save lives, they go right around the regulatory process. They're approved quickly, but with safety and effectiveness tests which have yet to be completed.
The drug company promises that they will complete the tests. But what I found in looking at FDA records is that drug companies go three, four, five, six, seven years, sometimes, before they actually finish all of these safety and effectiveness tests. Meanwhile, patients and doctors are using these drugs without knowing whether or not, in fact, they have passed these exams.
PILGRIM: There are some startling statistics that you've turned up: 42 of the -- 42 of the drugs that were required by the FDA to have follow-up testing, 42 of 91 did not since is the 1992. That's a good percentage, and yet many people, I'm sure, are quite happy to get the drugs if they are in a life-threatening illness.
I was particularly struck by the -- an example of a lung cancer drug that, of course, you would want immediately if you could get it, and yet later testing proved that it had absolutely no effect whatsoever, potentially harmless. Why would that be a problem?
MARKEY: It would be a problem because people, in many instances, because they know they have these illnesses, will pay anything and they should know as soon as possible that the drug is not effective, because then they, with their physician, might be able to construct some other strategy. But the patient has a right to know that the drug is not effective, and as soon as possible. Here, what we're finding is that these safety and effectiveness tests are not completed for years after approval has been given.
PILGRIM: Yes, in this case, it was $1,800 a month for this particular drug, and they could be taking something else. That's the other point, isn't it?
MARKEY: They could be taking something else, and moreover, there is no requirement by the FDA that this conditional approval be put on the label. In other words, the doctor and the patient aren't even told on the label that it's a conditional approval. The doctor or the patient would have to go to the FDA website, the drug company website, to find that out but they wouldn't see it, obviously, when they were purchasing the drug or consuming it on a daily basis.
PILGRIM: Now, the FDA, we did speak to them. They say they closely monitor the process and in some cases the additional trials can take years to complete, so that's what they are saying about this when we spoke to them today. But, you're saying there is a way to fix this and you're suggesting alternate labeling, that you have a label on the drug that says accelerated approval. Do you think that would clear things up or would that just confuse issues?
MARKEY: Well, I think that if each patient and physician understood that the approval for the drug was only conditional, not permanent, that that would put real pressure on the FDA and the drug company to complete all of the tests as quickly as possible.
And, secondly, I also propose that there be fines which are possible to be imposed by the FDA on the drug company. In other words, right now the drug company keeps it on the market because the FDA doesn't have the nerve to take it off the market because it could be life-saving. But there is no penalty if the drug company drags its feet in conducting these tests. PILGRIM: Well, we certainly applaud your efforts, and thanks very much for explaining them to us, tonight, Congressman Ed Markey. Thank you.
MARKEY: Thank you for having me on.
PILGRIM: Well, more than 270 students from across the country and some U.S. territories are gathered in Washington, D.C. tonight and they're competing in the 78th Annual Scripps Spelling National Bee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lederhosen. L-e-d-e-r-h-o-s-e-n. Lederhosen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Well, the students are up against a list of nearly 1,000 words. First place winner will receive $28,000 in cash. The scholarship, bonds and that winner will be named when the contest ends tomorrow. It always makes me so nervous to watch that.
Still ahead, Europe divided. How will growing opposition to an EU Constitution affect the United States?
Also, later, why one New York City councilman says a language barrier could pose a dangerous threat to residents in his district. He's my guest when we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Another huge setback tonight for advocates of a more integrated Europe. Voters in the Netherlands today rejected the proposed European constitution. The vote was 62 percent to 38 percent. Now, this Dutch referendum follows the French vote against the constitution on Sunday. The French vote was a massive blow to the prestige of French President Jacques Chirac. Chirac, of course, is one of Europe's strongest critics of the United States.
Well, joining me now is John Hulsman. He's a research fellow at the Heritage Federation, and thanks very much for being here.
JOHN HULSMAN, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Pleasure.
PILGRIM: And, high drama in Europe, a tough blow for Chirac, but I guess the sort of internal politics of Europe for most American viewers are kind of over the top. What does it mean to the United States this is sort of limping along at this point?
HULSMAN: It is limping along, Kitty and I think we have to look at Europe as it is. I think the days of us reading EU communiques and believing in a Europe whole and free and united which are words that trip off the American tongue really doesn't sum up a Europe that is divided in a couple ways.
It's divided between countries who have very different views of what kind of Europe they want, and it is divided, as we can see, between the rulers and their people in a number of states. The elitism in France, met by a resounding thud from both the left and the right in the country, and then in the Netherlands, every major political party is in favor of this thing, and yet the people overwhelmingly vote no. I think it leads America to look at things in Europe on an issue-by-issue, case-by-base basis. Stop believing the communiques about unity and start working with people case-by-case.
PILGRIM: Mm-hm. Is the French "no" on this basically going to torpedo it? I know that other referendums and other processes are scheduled. Will they be rolled back or maybe discontinued?
HULSMAN: Well, I mean, that's the question. In mid-June we're going to find out, but I have to say that if they go forward and ignore the people's will -- this is exactly the people's argument against the European Union -- in the past, in referendum, if people disagree they say, well' just keep voting until we get the right result.
To Americans' Jeffersonian eye this is not the way to run any kind of polity that calls itself a democracy. I think it's very important that they heed the wishes of the people. They see that the EU elite have far outrun what their people want, and occasionally they really have to be listened to, and there, in our little Jeffersonian way, I think America has a lot to teach Europe.
PILGRIM: The Chirac government had to reshuffle a bit. What does this mean to French-U.S. relations, which have been quite a discussion since the Iraq war.
HULSMAN: I was going to say, I've dined on that for most of my life. What it means is that former Foreign Minister de Villepin comes into power as prime minister. He is Chirac's closest ally. Remember, he was the guy that led the charge against the U.S. prior to the Iraq war.
I don't think it's going to make relations better, and internally, this is a guy who's never held elected office in his life. The French government reminds me of the former kings of France, the Bourbons, when they came to power after the revolution. They seemed to have learned nothing, and I think putting him into power shows that France is likely to remain a country with which the United States has a lot of friction and a lot of internal division.
PILGRIM: So, it polarized the issue, perhaps a bit. What does this mean for NATO?
HULSMAN: Well, I think in terms of NATO, actually, things are looking up. Schroeder, Gerhard Schroeder, the chancellor of Germany, due to their horrible economic situation has been forced to call elections. It looks like the CDU, the Christian Democrats, in Germany, are going to come to power, led by a woman named Angela Merkel. She is much more pro-American than the chancellor. Anybody we get in France will be more pro-American than Chirac, if, say, Nicolas Sarkozy is the most likely candidate in the next two years. So, we could get leaders in both France and Germany, who although they don't love the United States, are much more willing to work with it. So, in the short run, I think that's the story.
In the longer run, the story we have to see Europe as it really is, a wonderfully diverse area where unity is really a very rare thing, indeed.
PILGRIM: You know, Tony Blair said this whole thing brings up the question of the future of Europe. Do you think it's that dire?
HULSMAN: I think it is that dire. For 50 years, the Europeans have put off answering any kind of existential questions. What are we doing? Who are we? Where are we going? Because they know that the answers are different.
What the British want is a pro-American, pro-free trade kind of bloc. What the French want, is a protectionist, anti-American kind of bloc. The only way to make this thing work, is to keep things vague and don't ask too many big questions. The voters of Europe have finally said, look we really want big questions to be asked and answered. And, you know, it's 50 years overdue, but I welcome that.
PILGRIM: John Hulsman, thanks for helping us sort it out. Thanks very much.
HULSMAN: Pleasure, Kitty.
PILGRIM: Well, a reminder to vote in tonight's poll. "Do you think that journalists should be allowed to keep the sources confidential? Yes or no?" Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll bring you the results in just a few minutes.
And coming up at the top of the hour here on CNN, "ANDERSON COOPER 360." And Anderson joins us with a preview -- Anderson.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Kitty, thanks very much.
Yeah. Tonight on 360, a landslide hammering a posh neighborhood in Southern California, destroying homes, sending residents scurrying for their lives. The Earth is still set to be shifting out there. More homes teetering and perhaps ready to slide. We're going to bring you a report from the community of Laguna Beach. And talk to a homeowner whose house is underneath a home about to fall.
Also, an update on the story we brought you last week about the boy in Florida who was hit by his bus driver, then hit back. That's the video right there. It was all caught on tape. He and his stepbrother were all charged with felonies. The state's attorney made some decisions about those charges today against the kids. And we'll tell you about them at the top of the hour in about 20 minutes -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thank you very much, Anderson Cooper.
Still to come, plain English: How these signs are causing controversy in one of our biggest cities. We'll tell you all about that. And why my next guest says America's public high school system is under relentless attack. I'll be joined by the president of group aimed as preparing America's youth for professional careers. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Immigrant communities are growing in this country. And there are many neighborhoods where English is not the primary language. The signs on the shops are often not in English at all.
Well New York City Councilman Tony Avella says the problem has become so extreme in his district that police and firemen often don't know exactly which building they are looking for in the case of an emergency. And he wants the signs to be more clear. Councilman Avella joins me now. And thanks very much for being here.
TONY AVELLA, (D) NYC COUNCILMAN: Thank you for having me on the show.
PILGRIM: Is it simply an issue of clarity for you?
AVELLA: Correct. It really is a public safety issue. If police, fire, EMS, can't respond to an emergency, we are putting people's lives in danger. I'm introducing legislation that would require half the signage to be in English.
This would allow somebody, a business owner, to promote their own culture and heritage, but at the same time make sure that the predominant English speaking people could read the sign and so could police, fire and EMS.
PILGRIM: Is it a question of cultural sensitivity versus common sense? I'm sure there is some kind of discussion about this, because it's New York and of course there has to be a discussion.
AVELLA: I fully expect this to be a controversial subject. But it's a safety issue. It's also a good neighbor issue. As I mentioned, English is the predominant language. And I think it's incumbent on any immigrant group to in effect have part of the sign in English.
PILGRIM: Now your district is in Queens, in the northern section. And what ethnic groups are in your -- primarily in your district.
AVELLA: Well, I would say it's Korean, Chinese, Italian, Jewish, German.
PILGRIM: You know, historically, though, New York has had these neighborhoods that are so culturally intense. It is kind of something that New Yorkers embrace. Are you getting some kind of discussion about trying to break that up a bit?
AVELLA: No. I think for the most people -- for the most part, people work together in the city. It is just become a situation where when you can't read the signage, people feel intimidated. They feel left out in their own neighborhood.
Putting at least half of it in English, I think, is, again, a good neighbor policy. It's a safety issue. And it makes people work together rather than separating communities and separating neighbors.
PILGRIM: You know, it does go to a broader issue. And that's trying to integrate immigrants quickly, the melting pot theory in the United States. Do you think that it also plays a role in that?
AVELLA: Oh, absolutely. I don't think we do new immigrants any great service by not helping them assimilate into the culture, by not helping them learn English. It should be a situation where we encourage them to become part of our society. And English is the common denominator. And always has been.
PILGRIM: Now, this will cost money, changing signs, this will cost money. Where does that come from?
AVELLA: Well, my bill does not say we have to change all the signage immediately. What it would basically do is any new business opening up, they would have to have this requirement. So in effect the existing businesses would be grandfathered in. And over time, we would change the signage.
PILGRIM: All right. Well, we certainly applaud your efforts. Although we do love our New York with all of its ethnic groups and it's just so much fun to go to all the different areas.
AVELLA: Well, this would certainly keep that and enhance our cultural diversity in the city, too.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much for being with us.
AVELLA: Thank you for having me.
PILGRIM: Well, supporters of tough immigration laws say we can learn important lessons from previous crackdowns. In the late 1990s a program known as Operation Vanguard tried to check the Social Security numbers of workers in a meat packing industry. 50 people were deported, but the operation was shut down in a storm of controversy. Bill Tucker has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Checking the validity of a workers Social Security number doesn't seem controversial. Seven years ago, it invited the wrath of virtually the entire congressional delegation from Nebraska and the meat packing industry who pushed hard to put an end to an INS program known as Operation Vanguard. Vanguard's purpose: to cross check employee Social Security numbers in the meat packing industry. It was controversial from the start.
MARK KRIKORIAN, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: Everybody went nuts. The meat packers, the ranchers, the politicians in Nebraska, including the representatives in Washington, did everything in their power to make sure this never happened again. And they succeeded.
TUCKER: Operation Vanguard lasted less than a year. Many hailed it as a success. 26,000 meat packing employees were reviewed, 4500 discrepancies were found, 3500 workers left their jobs, rather than be interviewed. And 50 illegal aliens were found and deported.
Community activists, though, opposed the program saying enforcement created fear and confusion in the immigrant community.
VIRGIL ARMENDARIZ, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: I found that people that had merely failed to meet a deadline, or not completed paper properly considered themselves no longer here legally, which was not the case.
TUCKER: The industry blames Vanguard for a labor shortage, but instead of raising wages to attract workers wages, wages in the industry fell sharply. Operation Vanguard was very successful at uniting the political spectrum over the simple issue of checking Social Security numbers.
LEE TERRY, (R) NEBRASKA: And then we got the privacy folks that came out, said, oh, wait. Maybe, we're crossing the line here on this one too. So, Vanguard shutdown, ultimately, because the right and the left came together and said this isn't the right approach.
TUCKER: Critics of immigration policy say Operation Vanguard was a turning point in immigration enforcement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER (on camera): They say that when it became clear that there was no political will to continue Operation Vanguard, Kitty, the program was simply and quietly abandoned.
PILGRIM: Fascinating. Thanks very much, Bill Tucker.
Well, today marks the start of another hurricane season and an expert from Colorado State University says 15 tropical storms are expected to strike the Atlantic-Caribbean region with eight storms growing to hurricane strength. Last year, hurricanes in Florida and other parts of the Atlantic region caused more than $45 billion in destruction.
In California today a massive landslide in Laguna Beach sent homes crashing down a steep hillside. As many as 18 homes were destroyed or damaged. The landslide was caused by heavy rains earlier this year.
In Texas, rainstorms, lightning swept through San Antonio. The storm knocked out power for 100,000 people.
Still ahead, the results of tonight's poll and a preview of what is ahead tomorrow, and all -- and more than two decades of news. We'll have a special look at the past 25 years on CNN. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PILGRIM: My guest tonight says America's public high school system is under relentless attack and he says politicians, businesses and the schools themselves are to blame. Well, joining me from Orlando is John Farrendino president of the National Academy Foundation. He's a former superintendent of high schools in New York City.
And thank you very much for joining us. That's quite a badge, former superintendent of high schools in New York City, and certainly you bring with you a wealth of experience. Why are schools failing so badly?
JOHN FARRENDINO, PRESIDENT NAT'L ACADEMY FOUNDATION: Well, there are lots of very complex reasons, but the simplest is that American secondary schools, as they're presently structured, do not meet the needs of the young people who we service, and they were designed in an -- a century ago. They need to be restructured into more accountable, small, learning communities so that we can get engagement of the business community into the school and answer the question that every teenager, time immemorial has asked: why do I have to know this stuff?
So, we need to change the actual structure and accountability systems that exist within the schools.
PILGRIM: You know, I was really fascinated by your premise that the schools were built for an agricultural society. Why, and why won't they work? And, certainly reading, writing and arithmetic is still very relevant.
FARRENDINO: Oh, absolutely, it's very relevant. But, yet, the design of the school at the turn of the century was designed in a theoretical, classical curriculum base which was designed to have 30 percent of the young people be successful, and the other 70 percent to go into our factories and our farms, and those factories and farms no longer have that need. So, the schools need to change dramatically.
We need to -- the National Academy Foundation, our experience, is to create career academies using thematic approaches that turn kids on to learning and allow the business community to get actively involved so that when the young person is engaged, they can see that what they are doing in school relates to what opportunities might exist in the future for them.
PILGRIM: Give us an example of something thematically based that might...
FARRENDINO: OK, sure. A simple one and one of the academies we use is called the academy of finance, but, if you think about it, if a kid is learning their math and their social studies and their English as it relates to a theme -- and you can use business or the financial services industry -- when they are doing their algebra and the application of their algebra problems relates to how much money is earned or profit margins or all of the different kinds of machinations that take place that can take place with mathematics, using a business context, the kids then understand that the skills and tools that they are gaining are not abstract, but they're things that are actually going to apply to their everyday life.
PILGRIM: Mm-hm. And no longer the problem where, if you sell five apples for two cents each -- the sort of irrelevant stuff. It's more relevant to daily life.
Tell me a little bit about the private-public partnership. How do you get businesses involved? And, you have about 2,000 businesses involved. Why are they willing to wade into this morass?
FARRENDINO: Well, there are two reasons. Number one, American corporations, the global, major giants, understand that if they are going to maintain a competitive edge, an educated work force is the significant investment that is going to provide them with the opportunity to meet the challenges of this global economy.
On the local level, the other thing that's really significant is that American businesses, especially some of the ones that have supported the National Academy Foundation, like Citigroup and American Express in particular, historically, understand that if you can get community engagement and involvement at the local level -- the local banker, the local -- the cpa, the local company -- getting involved within their community, they also provide a pipeline of better prepared young people and they're also giving back in that community to the -- to the future of that community.
So, that -- when we say we have 2,000 businesses involved, many of them are major corporations, but most of them are local, small companies that are involved in their schools and through this vehicle we call a career academy or small learning community, we have a significant methodology of allowing them to get involved in the schools, using their expertise and turning kids on to learning.
PILGRIM: Well, we have to congratulate you on your 95 percent graduation rate for the schools that you have involved in this, and we also have to thank you for your commitment to the education field.
Thank you very much, John Farrendino.
FARRENDINO: Thank you very much, also.
PILGRIM: Well, let's go to the results of tonight's poll. Do you think the journalists should be allowed to keep their sources confidential? Here we go, 86 percent of you said yes; 14 percent of you said no.
Finally, today marks CNN's 25th anniversary. The network has covered all the major events around the globe for a quarter century. There were wars in Iraq, and we also covered the rescue of baby Jessica, the death of Princess Diana, the O.J. Simpson trial, the Challenger and the Columbia disasters and, of course, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Cold War.
Well, we'd like to congratulate everyone at CNN for the past 25 years, and more importantly, thanks to the viewers for your support.
And thanks for being with us tonight. Please join us tomorrow. We'll report on a culture war in one American community over how public schools should teach sex education.
Plus, one California mayor will tell us his plan for fixing what he calls the chaos now masquerading as a border. Please join us for that. For all of us here, good night from New York. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" starts right now.
END
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