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Lou Dobbs Tonight
New Orleans Mayor Tells Some Residents They Can Come Back; Bush to Address Nation Tonight
Aired September 15, 2005 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: The mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, is telling nearly 200,000 residents they can return home for the first time after Hurricane Katrina. It is a remarkable reversal for the mayor who just a few days ago was saying it was unsafe for anyone to remain in his city. The mayor's declaration comes just hours before President Bush will address the nation from New Orleans on his vision for the city's reconstruction.
President Bush delivers his speech three hours from now, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Suzanne Malveaux is in New Orleans. She has a preview of the president's speech. And Mary Snow, also in New Orleans tonight, reporting on the city's ambitious plans to reopen for business. We begin with Suzanne Malveaux -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, it's really expected to be a defining moment for this president to lay out his vision to the country about the recovery effort. The main theme here, of course, is moving forward, not to look behind. We got some excerpts just moments ago. I'm going to read two of them for you.
The first one he says, "the work that has begun in the Gulf coast region will be one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen. When that job is done, all Americans will have something to be very proud of. And all Americans are needed in this common effort."
Another excerpt here, a very interesting one that takes some responsibility and accountability, the president saying "The government of this nation will do its part as well. Out cities must have clear and up to date plans for responding to natural disasters, disease outbreaks or terrorists attacks, of evacuating large numbers of people in an emergency, and for providing the food, water and security they would need in a time of terror threats and weapons of mass destruction, the danger to our citizens reaches much wider than a fault line or a flood plain. I considered detailed emergency planning to be a national security priority."
Lou, the president addressing some concerns that polls have shown Americans not as confident in his leadership ability, not as of confident in his ability to deal with terrorist attacks, the president tackling that this evening -- Lou.
DOBBS: Suzanne, thank you very much. Suzanne Malveaux from New Orleans. The mayor of that city, Ray Nagin, today declared his city is reopening for business. He also is allowing nearly 200,000 residents to return over the next few weeks. That's more than a third of the city's population. Mary Snow reports from New Orleans -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, as he said it's an ambitious plan, Mayor Ray Nagin saying today this is a good day for New Orleans and this is the first step in bringing the city back to life. Starting next week, nearly 200,000 residents will be phased in over a period of weeks, being allowed to return to their homes.
This in areas that were not badly damaged, not as badly damaged that is, after the hurricane. Now, over the weekend, business leaders and business owners will be allowed to go back to their businesses and then residents on Monday. Electricity is continuing to be restored, but the mayor is saying that people will not be able to use the water for drinking.
Also, the French Quarter, which he says is high and dry, that timeline for the French Quarter to be reopened is September 26th. He's saying that there are concerns about putting electricity back at the same time because he's concerned about potential fires. So that is why it is not reopening right away.
This is in stark contrast, Lou, to an earlier prediction that New Orleans could have been a ghost town for several months. Lou?
DOBBS: Mary, thank you very much. Mary Snow.
The federal government is now saying officially Hurricane Katrina is the most destructive hurricane ever to strike this country. NOAA says Katrina is also likely to top the list of the most costly hurricanes ever, replacing Hurricane Andrew in Florida in 1992. But the most deadly hurricane remains the storm that struck Galveston, Texas in 1900 killing more than 8,000 people.
A huge issue for homeowners in the Katrina disaster zone is whether insurance companies will pay for reconstruction. Today the Mississippi state attorney general filed suit against five insurance companies. At issue is whether those insurance companies are failing to fulfill their obligations to victims of flooding. Allan Chernoff reports from Biloxi, Mississippi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marion Williams insurance adjuster looked at his home's damage and said it's a result of a flood, not a hurricane.
MARION WILLIAMS, BILOXI RESIDENT: This was driven by the wind. The wind, the hurricane's wind -- you know, strong wind that blow, it pushed the water in here.
CHERNOFF: Williams has no flood insurance, Neither does his neighbor, 82-year-old Bill Vierling, waiting for his insurance adjuster, Vierling fears he'll also hear the damage came from a flood.
BILL VIERLING, BILOXI RESIDENT: Bologna. All the way through here, from the beach all the way through diagonally across here, there's evidence right on down the line of some low pressure sucking things up. Flood didn't do that.
CHERNOFF: In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Mississippi's attorney general charges insurance companies with illegally trying to get out of paying compensation to Katrina's victims.
JIM HOOD, MISSISSIPPI ATTORNEY GENERAL: If we don't get this stopped, what insurance companies are trying to do, it's going to bankrupt the Gulf coast of Mississippi, Louisiana and parts of Alabama as well.
CHERNOFF (on camera): The insurance companies in their standard policies exclude damage resulting from water, even if that water is driven by wind. The companies say homeowners need to buy separate flood insurance offered by FEMA. But relatively few people in this area bought such insurance because this is not a designated flood zone.
(voice-over): Named in the lawsuit are State Farm, Nationwide, Allstate and other insurers. Allstate said "it's unfortunate that a lawsuit has been filed so early in the recovery process." None of the other companies responded to CNN's request for comment. But the industry's trade group says the policies are clear.
JEANNE SALVATORE, INSURANCE INFORMATION INSTITUTE: The insurance industry did not charge premiums for flooding, and flooding is not covered under standard homeowner's policy.
CHERNOFF: The Red Cross estimates Katrina damaged more than one- third of the homes along Mississippi's Gulf coast. Residents like Bill Vierling hopes the state's lawsuit will get insurance companies to soften their stance. He said his only other hope is a bailout from the federal government. Allan Chernoff, CNN, Biloxi, Mississippi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: New concerns tonight that federal employees with government credit cards may spend taxpayer dollars on themselves rather than on the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has raised the credit line on those cards from $2,500 to $250,000. But many fear that government employees may well spend federal money on such things as prostitutes, gambling and alcohol. They fear that because it's happened before.
Now Senate Finance Committee Chairman Senator Charles Grassley wants to cut the credit line for most of those cards to $50,000.
Hurricane Ophelia, the first major storm to hit this country after Katrina, today continued to pound the Carolina coast with high winds and heavy rain. The slow-moving storm is expected to remain off the Outer Banks for another 12 to 24 hours before it heads back out into the Atlantic. Susan Candiotti reports from Nags Head and the Outer Banks. Rob Marciano reports from Salter Path on the North Carolina coast. We begin with Susan Candiotti -- Susan. SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Lou. It's time for high tide here in this area of the Outer Banks and residents here say they are relieved the worst they had to bear of Hurricane Ophelia were only tropical storm force winds. No injuries reported here, thankfully no deaths either.
This particular part of the Outer Banks was not under an evacuation order and most people chose to right ride out the storm. They had a much rougher time of it down south of here on Hatteras Island. However, authorities say they're not ready to say they dodged the bullet yet.
They did have power outages down there. They do have reports of sand washing over onto the roadways, but for now the roads are said to be passable and they'll be doing damage assessments come the morning. Now, earlier this day, we spoke with some residents who talked about the so-called Katrina effect and what kind of emotional impact that storm had on preparing for Ophelia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANE EUBANKS, RESIDENT: From everything I saw yesterday with the Sprint trucks and massive amount of Dominion power trucks that have already come here, National Guard trucks, I feel like they're overpreparing just to make sure that they don't get caught.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: And, in fact, even though they had power outages down on Hatteras Island, they say already a lot of those people are already back on line. FEMA, the National Guard, and State Highway Patrol -- they had over 1,000 people prepositioned ready to help out as necessary and quite frankly, I've not seen anything in quite like it, even in terms, Lou, of the press releases that they put out in advance of Hurricane Ophelia, obviously with Katrina in mind. Back to you.
DOBBS: At least lessons are being learned from the tragedy of Katrina. Susan Candiotti, thank you.
Hurricane Ophelia has flooded some beachfront communities and damaged a number of building. Rob Marciano reports now from Salter Path, North Carolina -- Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wolf, this storm completely different from Katrina, but some of the results at least where I stand right now, very, very similar. A storm surge on the bayside of this island last night created a path of destruction that I didn't think you would see in a Category 1 storm.
These are beachfront retail operations, fishing houses, restaurants, other retail, docks, cinder blocks completely pulverized and pushed in and then beyond these buildings is where the debris comes to rest. This is something that you would see almost similar to Biloxi, except on a bit of a smaller scale.
Look at all this concrete, reinforced concrete, just completely crushed by the waves of the bay. This is Bogue Sound. Right now, the tide is coming in. Right now, we have got your typical six inch breakers. But last night we had five and six foot breakers coming in on top of a storm surge nobody around here has ever seen.
A couple inlets on either side of this island caused the water to be squeezed in here from the ocean side. And then north wind kicked in last night and took all that water as it pinched up and surged forward and pushed it into these businesses.
And you can see it goes all the way down the northern side of this island, Lou. Destruction we didn't think we'd see from a category 1 hurricane. Talked to some of the long-time residents here who lived through 1954 hurricane, I lose it right now, but can't remember the name. Starts with an A. But it was a category 4 storm. And they said this, this is much worse than that storm from back in 1954. Unbelievable damage from a category 1 storm, Lou, back to you.
DOBBS: Well Rob, the hours you put in with that storm over the past 24 hours, I'm glad you can remember my name. Thank you very much, Rob Marciano.
MARCIANO: All right.
DOBBS: Still ahead, the Army Corps of Engineers admits failures in its preparations for Hurricane Katrina and considers bold plans to protect New Orleans from any future disaster. We'll have a special report for you. And how federal, state and local government ignored the lessons of the past in their response to Hurricane Katrina. My guest tonight, an author who says this country was better at dealing with disasters a century ago.
And the Senate completes its questioning of Supreme Court chief justice nominee John Roberts. We'll be examining whether John Roberts has convinced Senators that he should be the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. All of that and a great deal more coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The massive flooding in New Orleans has sparked an intense debate about how to protect the city from future hurricanes. Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers presented its own ideas about new flood defenses. And at the same time, the Corps admitted that it could have done more to protect the city before the hurricane hit.
Jamie McIntyre reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the Army Corps of Engineers a prediction and an admission. The prediction within five days, major portions of New Orleans will have been drained. And in less than three weeks, by early October, the city will be essentially dry, barring another storm. The admission: preparations to conduct emergency repair to the broken levees under flood conditions were inadequate. QUESTION: Could you or should you have in retrospect perhaps more helicopters, more sand bags already -- of the giant 3,000 pound sand bags ready to go so you could have moved maybe a few days earlier than you were able to?
LT. GEN. CARL STROCK, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Could we or should we? In retrospect, I would say in retrospect -- I would say yes, we could have well, should have in anticipation of this. It should have been part of the overall response plan.
MCINTYRE: In fact, the army corps did preposition materials and people to move in after the flood. But it took days to get the helicopters and construction materials to begin plugging the leaks. A better plan, officials say work not have prevented the flood, but could have speed recovery and perhaps limited the damage.
But even as it rebuilds the levees and considers how to make them higher and stronger at the projected cost of over $2 billion, the Army Corps is revisiting an old idea, blocking any storm surge from getting into lake Pontchartrain, thereby stopping the flooding at its source.
STROCK: Right down here there are two paces that come in to Lake Pontchartrain. Lake Pontchartrain is actually connected, and it's essentially at sea level. Our original proposal was to put barriers there which could be raised as hurricanes approach, much like you see in the Netherlands and on the Thames River in England.
For environmental concerns, that the health of the estuary, we were enjoined not to do that.
MCINTYRE: A system of barriers has held back the sea in Holland since their own Katrina. A 1953 storm that killed 1800 people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: The Army Corps of Engineers, which is made up almost entirely of civilians, won't decide whether movable barriers or bigger levees are the way to go. Instead, they will assess the cost, the technical feasibility and the environmental impact of the options and then, Lou, it'll be up to the state and federal government to weigh the tradeoffs.
DOBBS: General Strock, as you know, Jamie, has been candid throughout. He and his people have done heroic work in moving in quickly and consistently into the damaged area. The idea of that 1965 proposal, does it have, in political terms at least, a chance of occurring?
MCINTYRE: Well, I think what you're going to see, is they're going to look at that as well as the option of building up the levees. But if you could prevent the storm surge from getting into Lake Pontchartrain, that would really cut off the problem right at the source. And that might be a much more effective way. But they're going to have to go back again, and look at the environmental concerns that prompted a law suit that stopped it in the first place.
Again, that might be the way to go. They're going to have to look at it.
DOBBS: It is difficult, indeed, to imagine any greater damage to the environment that would have resulted from the 1965 plan being carry out than what we have just witnessed with Katrina. Jamie, thank you very much. Jamie McIntyre.
In Mississippi, two dolphins from the Gulfport Aquarium who were swept out to sea during hurricane Katrina have been rescued. The dolphins were found swimming in the polluted Gulf of Mexico. Six other dolphins from the aquarium remain missing.
And in New Orleans today, there were new rescues of abandoned dogs and cats. The National Guard is now involved in a desperate effort to save as many animals as possible still alive in the city. Many of the animals still being rescued after more than two weeks with virtually no fresh water. And more than 900 pets have been rescued in New Orleans since the hurricane hit.
Coming up here next, we'll have the very latest status alert on the Gulf Coast crisis. And then President Bush faces some of the lowest approval ratings of his presidency ahead of tonight's prime- time speech. The White House has a clear political strategy for the speech. Our senior political analysts will have that report.
And then a former president, the current president and a man trying to become president, all doing their best to appease the fastest growing military, economic and political power on earth. We'll have a special report for you. "Red Storm Rising," next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf coast that region is still struggling, obviously, to recover. Officials now say the death toll from the storm has reached 700. Deborah Feyerick joins me now and has the very latest status alert for us -- Deborah.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Lou, topping our status alert tonight, flood waters. They are draining much faster than expected and the Army Corps of Engineers says except for a few ponds in low lying areas, New Orleans could be pumped out by October 18th. Radio stations have been calling people home zip code by zip code, yet it may not be completely safe. If another storm hits, engineers say there is no guarantee the levees will hold.
Status alert on Louisiana wildlife -- it's too early for any scientific studies, but the Fish and Wildlife Agency fears that the number of animals like whitetail deer and other ground species may have been seriously impacted.
Final status alert on oystermen. If there is no contamination in the Gulf and if oystermen can recede, it will take a minimum 18 months for the oysters to come back. Shrimpers, crawfishermen and turtle farmers have no idea when they will be able to get their boats back into the water. That tops our status alerts. E-mail us here at statusalert@cnn.com with any information you may have on the impacted region. Lou.
DOBBS: Deborah, thank you very much.
Updating you now on a story that we reported earlier in this broadcast, we reported on the Mississippi state attorney general's decision to file a lawsuit against five insurance companies, amid claims of profiteering and denying coverage to thousands of Mississippians.
A short time ago one of those insurance companies, State Farm, contacted us and said the attorney general's actions in their words, "threatened to undermine the insurance industry's stability and its ability to respond to claim obligations." And Nationwide just said "the allegations made by the Mississippi state attorney general are unfounded." We'll continue to follow this important story.
President Bush faced with the lowest approval ratings of his presidency has a new opportunity tonight to persuade the American people of his ability to lead in crisis. President Bush's speech in New Orleans tonight is an opportunity to turn a page in the Gulf coast disaster and to take the initiative in reconstruction. Bill Schneider has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush is trying to turn the page. It's a three-step strategy for political recovery. Step one, get rid of the FEMA director. In one week, this Michael Brown ...
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.
SCHNEIDER: ... became ex-FEMA director Michael Brown. Step two, take responsibility. President Bush has never been inclined to admit mistakes. It doesn't match his image of strength. Last year, when a reporter asked the president about his mistakes, Bush seemed uncomfortable.
BUSH: You know, I just -- I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference.
SCHNEIDER: Six months later after he had time to think about it, the president faced the same question in a campaign debate.
BUSH: Now, I made some mistakes in appointing people, but I'm not going to name them.
SCHNEIDER: Now the mistake is undeniable.
BUSH: And to the extent that federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility.
SCHNEIDER: Not quite an apology, but enough to get to step three, move on. The president's speech is expected to set out his vision for recovery and reconstruction, and ambitious and expensive new agenda, one that will showcase the president as fully in charge.
President Bush has one thing going for him as he tries to regain the initiative. He has kept his base. Every leader needs a base. Your base are the people who are with you when you're wrong. This president's base is not abandoning him. Eighty-five percent of Republicans stand behind President Bush. His allies defend him.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: The government is aggressively working, aggressively responding.
SCHNEIDER: President Bush has been there for his conservative base, and they're now there for him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: Sooner or later, every leader gets in trouble. President Reagan had Iran-Contra, President Clinton had Monica Lewinsky. Like Bush they had a base that helped them get through it. Lou.
DOBBS: The base point is certainly an important one, Bill. The subtext as we've been reporting here from almost the outset is in the crisis in the Gulf coast is that Americans right now are after the performance of the federal government in responding to this disaster and local and state authorities responding to the disaster are very concerned that we are simply unprepared in any significant way to respond to a terrorist attack or another natural disaster elsewhere in the country. Do you believe the president will address that specific concern, perhaps the most important concern, tonight?
SCHNEIDER: I believe he better because everything we've looked at, every poll number we've looked at, shows that Americans are becoming and more and more alarmed over what this signifies, what this whole Katrina experience means, unpreparedness. The president has got to talk not just about reconstruction and recovery in the Gulf, but what specifically he's doing to make sure that every part of the country is prepared for anything like this disaster.
DOBBS: Bill Schneider, thank you.
Congressional Republicans are using the massive hurricane relief effort to push their own political and legislative agendas. The Bush White House has already suspended a series of regulations, regulations that are critically important saying such measures are now an obstacle to emergency relief work.
Among the suspended regulations are rules that would ensure federal contractors pay a fair wage to their workers, the Davis-Bacon act. And Democrats are also using this disaster to promote an agenda as well, including a plan to preserve Medicaid health benefits for victims.
We would like to know how you feel about the president's address to the nation tonight coming up in just now about two-and-a-half hours. Do you believe President Bush will be able to assure the American public about the government's readiness to quickly and adequately respond to future disasters? Yes or no. Cast your vote please at loudobbs.com. We'll have the results coming up later in the broadcast.
Coming right up, chief justice nominee John Roberts tries to convince Senate Democrats he'll follow the rule of law and not his personal views. We'll have a special report on the last day of his public Senate testimony.
And then, the response of the nation and a government to two natural disasters nearly a century apart. My next guest says there are striking differences. We'll take a look at what we have learned and what we've forgotten. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: My guest tonight recently wrote an article in the -- not bad -- in "The New York Times." In it he compared the federal government's slow response -- in fact, local and state government's response -- to Hurricane Katrina to the response of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in which 3,000 people were killed. He said the response to those disasters are shockingly different.
Joining me now is Simon Winchester. He's author of the book "A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906." It is good to have you here, Simon. And amongst the things that we did in the early moments of this disaster, the thoughts went quickly to 1906 and San Francisco. What we did not expect to find were your discoveries about the relative differences in these two responses.
SIMON WINCHESTER, AUTHOR: It was amazing. I mean, this is a time with no cell phones, no CNN, no Weather Channel to tell us anything that's going to happen. The earthquake came out of a clear blue sky, 12 minutes past 5:00 in the morning. No one predicted it. And yet, within a matter of minutes, people saw -- realized what was happening and rose to the occasion.
We had a general, Frederick Funston, who was knocked out of bed, suddenly realized he had to take charge. He didn't -- there was no possibility of calling Washington or anyone, so he said, we need soldiers.
DOBBS: And he was the second in command. He...
WINCHESTER: His number one was in Washington at his daughter's wedding. So he summoned -- he sent a man on horseback to ride down to the barracks. He said, I need soldiers in large numbers, with bayonets, with ammunition, in field dress, marching into San Francisco to give everyone a show of confidence, that the government's the charge.
Two hours and 33 minutes later, 153 minutes later, two companies of soldiers weaved their way around the fires, presented themselves to the mayor of San Francisco, who was a completely unprepossessing chap. He was a violinist. He was highly corrupt. He was the president of the local musicians union. And yet he also rose to the occasion. He said, these soldiers can make sure there's no looting. Anyone that loots will be shot. Also, I need dynamite, because the fires are breaking out. We need to blow up buildings to act as fire breaks. And I'm going to commandeer a boat to send a message from Oakland, where there is a working telegraph station, to Washington to say we need help.
DOBBS: And Washington, D.C. -- now, again, the earthquake occurred in April 18th, 1906. That telegram goes out from Oakland from the mayor. Already with the militia out, the presidio has moved its troops out to take order, and the mayor has put up posters saying looters will be shot. They're posted as many places as they can put them. That's on April 18th. The telegram goes out. And how does Washington respond?
WINCHESTER: Well, the first thing is, Congress meets at 4:00 the next morning, passes all...
DOBBS: Did you say in the morning?
WINCHESTER: In the morning.
DOBBS: 4:00 in the morning.
WINCHESTER: I know. It's unimaginable, isn't it?
DOBBS: That's not really Washington time, is it?
WINCHESTER: Any way they convene, they pass the necessary ennobling legislation for all the financing. Taft, who's the secretary of war, Teddy Roosevelt is in charge, a tough, go-getter president -- everyone rises to the occasion. Taft authorizes relief trains to be sent pounding towards the Rocky Mountains within hours. Already, the governor of California, a dentist I think he was, called Governor Pardee, otherwise long forgotten, has sent a relief train, which arrives in Berkeley at 11:00 that night.
DOBBS: And this is all the next day?
WINCHESTER: All the next day. Well, the train arrived -- the first train arrived that same night. So the big trains start going the next day, having been authorized by the equivalent then of the Pentagon.
Within a week, every single tent that was owned by the American Army was in San Francisco, as temporary housing.
DOBBS: What percentage of U.S. armed forces were moved into San Francisco?
WINCHESTER: Ten percent. So one...
DOBBS: 10 percent?
WINCHESTER: So the American standing Army, which in those days was huge, because it was all over the Philippines and Cuba and all these overseas places as well, huge number of soldiers. So the federal government responded with astonishing alacrity, great efficiency.
DOBBS: And we are out of time. It's a fascinating comparison, it's a fascinating study of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.
What do you think is the basic, in one sense, the difference between then and now in terms of response?
WINCHESTER: A lack of initiative today. Too much bureaucracy today. Too many people looking over their shoulders, not taking decisions, not rising to the moment.
DOBBS: Teddy Roosevelt, you said he was in charge. He stayed in charge.
WINCHESTER: He was an in-charge kind of man. He carried a big stick.
DOBBS: And he set a heck of an example.
WINCHESTER: He did.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Simon Winchester.
WINCHESTER: Thank you.
DOBBS: We wish you a lot of luck. The book is "A Crack in the Edge of the World."
WINCHESTER: Comes out in two weeks.
DOBBS: Timely if ever there were such a thing. Thank you.
WINCHESTER: Thank you.
DOBBS: This just in here to CNN, we have just received word, Louisiana officials now say the death toll from the hurricane has risen to 558 in New Orleans. That's up from 474 as of yesterday. The total number of deaths now in the Gulf Coast as a result of the hurricane, 791.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are focusing not only on Hurricane Katrina now. The Senate Judiciary Committee, of course, today finished its public questioning of Chief Justice Nominee Judge John Roberts. Roberts' confirmation to the high court is now seen as a virtual certainty, despite some concerns from Senate Democrats, who say they still don't know Roberts' views on the law. Joe Johns has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the last of the questions for Judge Roberts, Democrat Dianne Feinstein, the only woman on the Judiciary Committee, was still wavering, expressing uncertainty about how she might vote.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: I don't really know what I'm going to do with respect to voting for you or voting against you.
JOHNS: Roberts did what a skilled advocate does best, closing with his strongest argument.
JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE NOMINEE: I think if you've looked at what I've done since I took the judicial oath, that should convince you that I'm not an ideologue. And you and I agree that that's not the sort of person we want on the Supreme Court.
JOHNS: But Roberts still has his critics, like Senator Edward Kennedy, who pressed him on memos he wrote two decades ago about affirmative action and civil rights.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: What do you think in your record would give some sense of hope to women, to minorities, blacks and browns, to those that are disabled, that are not looking for a handout, but just looking for a chance?
ROBERTS: The long and short of it is that if you look at my record on the question of affirmative action, yes, I was in an administration that was opposed to quotas. Opposition to quotas is not the same thing as opposition to affirmative action.
JOHNS: Sensing potential vulnerability on that topic, Democrats invited civil rights leaders, including Georgia Congressman John Lewis, to voice concern about the nomination.
REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: If the federal courts had abandoned us in the civil rights movement in the name of judicial restraint, we might still be struggling with the burden of legal segregation in America today. Judge Roberts' memos reveal him to be hostile towards civil rights, affirmative action and the Voting Rights Act.
JOHNS: Republicans, already confident that Roberts will be confirmed, used the completion of his testimony to immediately make the case for overwhelming bipartisan support.
SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R), KANSAS: I think the way Judge Roberts has performed and what he's indicated in his willingness to follow the law, he should get a large majority vote in the United States Senate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: And there is pressure on the other side. Late today, the leaders of a number of progressive and liberal groups met with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, to try to urge in the strongest possible terms a strong no vote against this nominee, to send a message to the White House about the next Supreme Court nomination. We're told Reid listened but said he had not made up his mind. Lou, back to you.
DOBBS: Senator Reid understands that messages often are reciprocal. It will be interesting to see ultimately what the message is from the Democrats on that committee.
Thank you very much, Joe Johns. Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, has followed these proceedings throughout and is here tonight. And Jeffrey, good to see you.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: It's a great week. It was really interesting.
DOBBS: Interesting, and one expects it to be frankly boring and predictable if not ideological partisan -- there was much of that, but Judge Roberts received from Senator Biden the acclamation he's the best he's ever seen.
TOOBIN: He was really dazzling. I mean, you know, I think I have a pretty good detector about when someone really knows their stuff and when they don't, and the scope of his knowledge of constitutional law was really unusual, even by the very high standards of Supreme Court advocates. So his knowledge, his intelligence, his ethics are not in question. What he believes and how he'll vote, that's somewhat more mysterious.
DOBBS: We've got a sense of how he believes. He has no aversion to being called a conservative. At the same time, he says he's not an ideologue. Are those inconsistent and contradictory positions?
TOOBIN: By no means. I mean, you know, I think what -- there was a great exchange today, and Joe's piece ran the excerpt about, you know, when he denied being an ideologue, where Senator Schumer sort of said, you know, we know you're a conservative, but are you...
DOBBS: Speaking of ideologues.
TOOBIN: ... right, but are you a Scalia-Thomas ideologue, or are you a sort of mainstream conservative?
DOBBS: A Rehnquist.
TOOBIN: A Rehnquist. And, you know, that was a really heartfelt statement there by Judge Roberts, where he said, look at my record. And it is true: He's not someone who gives a lot of speeches. He doesn't write law revue articles. He's not on a soapbox when he's been judging so far. So he doesn't seem like an ideologue.
DOBBS: All right, he has Jeffrey Toobin's vote. Now, give us...
TOOBIN: That and 51 more will get him into the Supreme Court.
DOBBS: Your sense of the losers and the winners here. Obviously, a man of this character, capacity and integrity, obviously will do well. The fears about Roe v Wade, the fears about being an activist or too interpretive, if you will, of the Constitution, entirely misplaced?
TOOBIN: I don't think they're entirely misplaced. I think it's unclear whether, you know, he is the kind of judge who really, you know, will bring an agenda to roll back the precedents he doesn't like or he will be someone who says look, the precedents are what they are. Let's work within the law and see, you know, how the law develops from here. That was the question that the Democrats focused on the whole time and their frustration is understandable because at least I don't have a clear sense of that's where he is.
DOBBS: Frustration, one would seem to think that there would be great joy that a man of talent or a woman of talent and capacity was moving forward to a position of this importance?
TOOBIN: You know, I think that may have been a little bit of a facetious question. I couldn't possibly ...
DOBBS: Jeffrey Toobin. Thank you, sir. Good to have you.
Still ahead a second straight day of carnage in Baghdad. Insurgents today target Iraqi police officers again. Will Iraq security forces collapse if U.S. troops do withdraw? General David Grange is here next. Stay with us.
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DOBBS: A new wave of insurgent attacks again in Iraq today, one day after the worst violence in Baghdad in two-and-a-half years. Insurgents today targeted a elite police commandos, forces that are working closely with U.S. troops and offensive operations.
Thirty people were killed today in those attacks, 57 others wounded. These latest attacks simply add to fears that Iraq is on the brink of civil war. Joining me now, General David Grange. General this -- these attacks -- these attacks rising to this level, does it surprise you, shock you?
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It does not, Lou, because right now it's a situation where the insurgent forces, the terrorist forces, have to try to start a civil war and break up the different factions more so than they are now. It's a really last hope through the elections and the also the constitution process. It's predictable.
DOBBS: Amongst the reports that we're getting out of Baghdad is that Iraqis are becoming increasingly tired of this violence and are starting to provide intelligence on the terrorists and the insurgents. If that is true, what took so long in your judgment?
GRANGE: Well, first of all, the people had to develop a confidence in the government in place and also the new Iraqi military and police forces. That trust and confidence, that flow of communications only comes from that, and that had to be established.
DOBBS: The idea that there is an establishment of a government, the president of Iraq, Talabani, saying that as many as 50,000 U.S. troops could conceivably be coming home by the end of this year, do you agree?
GRANGE: I don't think the end of this year and I think that would not be prudent because I think you need to have as much force as possible on the ground through the constitution, development and the elections, and then start to draw down after. This is a critical window for the success of Iraq and for our efforts as well.
DOBBS: We have examined this issue time and time again over the past two-and-a-half years, David. The number of troops in Iraq, it appears they're actually rising now rather than receding. What do you expect in terms of force, size and force security in the months and the year ahead?
GRANGE: Again, maybe a little bit more of an increase through the end of the year, but then a gradual draw down, depending again on the training capabilities, you know, of the Iraqi forces, both police and the military.
DOBBS: General David Grange, thank you.
GRANGE: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: Still ahead, Cubans fleeing communism and the U.S. Coast Guard, how Hurricane Katrina has given dozens, perhaps hundreds of Cubans, an opening to Florida.
And Mexico tonight facing its very own broken borders crisis. This time Mexico is promising an urgent response to border issues as illegal aliens are crossing Mexico's southern border. Stay with us.
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DOBBS: Word tonight of a new invasion of Cubans into the United States. Dozens if not hundreds of illegal aliens from Cuba have landed on Florida soil over the past several weeks. Immigration officials say those Cubans are taking advantage of the U.S. Coast Guard's focus on recovery efforts now after Hurricane Katrina. Lisa Sylvester has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cubans who make it to U.S. soil can stay in the United States under what's known as the Wet Foot/Dry Foot policy. With Coast Guard resources shifted to the Gulf coast to respond to Hurricane Katrina, many more Cubans have been making a dash for it. One-hundred-nine Cubans reached Florida shores in one 24-hour period this week.
T.J. BONNER, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: The word is out in Cuba. Run, walk, crawl to the nearest smuggler, get onto a boat, come to the U.S. Hundreds of boats are lined up in Cuba as we speak waiting to bring people to the United States. This is an impending crisis and the federal government is sitting on its hands.
SYLVESTER: Since Hurricane Dennis slammed Cuba earlier this year, more Cubans have been trying to leave the island. More than 1,800 Cubans have successfully reached the United States this fiscal year, compared to 955 last year. Good weather and calm seas increased the number of attempts, but once Hurricane Katrina hit, it provided an opening. The Coast Guard spokesman said, quote, "resources have been diverted, but we continue to have air surveillance and maritime surface units patrolling the straits of Florida."
The Coast Guard points out that while the number of landings have gone up, so have the number of successful interceptions at sea. But critics say if it's easier for Cubans to sneak in, it's also easier for terrorists.
ROSEMARY JENKS, NUMBERS USA: It really I think raises questions about whether or not we can protect national security and respond to a crisis at the same time, and that's a little frightening.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: Customs and Border Protection released a statement this afternoon saying operations are not being impacted because of their Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in the Gulf region, but rank and file border agents say the spike in the number of Cubans entering the United States shows that Katrina is having an effect -- Lou.
DOBBS: Lisa Sylvester, thank you very much.
The Mexican government, which insists on an open borders policy with the United States and basically condemns U.S. immigration and border policies, now concedes it has a broken border problem of its own. Mexico, however, this time is doing something about it. Taking urgent steps, in fact, to stop the flow of Brazilian illegal aliens into Mexico, many of whom ultimately end up in the United States. Casey Wian reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five years ago, the Mexican government began allowing Brazilians to enter Mexico without a visa. The policy was supposed to encourage tourism. But instead, it sparked a wave of illegal immigration from Brazil, through Mexico to the United States.
The number of Brazilians apprehended along the U.S. southern border has jumped from about 1,000 a year to more than 30,000 so far in fiscal 2005. Apprehensions of Brazilian illegal aliens have more than tripled in the past year alone.
Now, Mexico has decided to end its no-visa policy for Brazilians.
DEBORAH MEYERS, MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE: Mexico certainly does not want to compound the problems of smuggling and violence that exists along its border with the United States, so from that perspective, it absolutely is in Mexico's own interest. But at the same time, this decision may reflect the growing corporation between the United States and Mexico on immigration and border security related issues.
WIAN: Just this week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents helped break up an international illegal alien smuggling ring operating out of Brazil. Forty-eight people, including Brazilian federal police and customs officers, airline personnel and travel agents, were accused of helping thousands of Brazilians pose as tourists destined for Mexican border towns. Once there, they snuck into the United States.
MICHAEL CUTLER, FORMER INS SPECIAL AGENT: Brazil offers us a particular problem, especially as we prosecute a war on terror. There is a part of Brazil in the southern portion in the tri-border region that we know is associated with al Qaeda and Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations that may well be using that region of Brazil as a training area.
WIAN: In a related decision, homeland security officials have expanded their expedited removal program to cover the entire southwest border. They say that means more non-Mexican illegal aliens apprehended near the border will now be kept in custody and quickly returned to their home countries.
In the six border patrol sectors where expedited removal has not been in effect, the policy covering most so-called OTMs has been to give them a court date and then release them into the United States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: Now, of course, an overwhelming majority of them never show up for their deportation hearings, and that practice may be coming to an end as long as the Department of Homeland Security makes good on its promise to acquire more detention space to keep those OTMs in custody before they're sent home -- Lou.
DOBBS: Of course, those detention beds really have very little to do with securing the border. It will remain a sieve it is until absolutely secured.
Casey, thank you very much. A fascinating story. It's nice to see Mexico taking border security seriously even if it is its southern border. Casey Wian, thank you.
The result of tonight's poll: 95 percent of you say President Bush will not be able to assure the American public about the government's readiness to quickly and adequately respond to future disasters.
Still ahead here, three appeasers in a pod. A rising number of our political leaders simply failing to defend critically important U.S. strategic and economic interests against communist China's. We'll have a special report.
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DOBBS: Let's be clear, this nation's foreign policy with China appears to be written by multinational corporations eager for access to the illusion of the Chinese market. And many U.S. politicians bow and scrape before China with dollar signs in their eyes, ignoring years of unfair trade practices, hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. trade deficit with China, human rights violations by communist China, and crackdowns on the media. Critics say America's China policy is simply appeasement. Christine Romans reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Are these politicians putting trade with China ahead of democracy? President Bush, smiling for the cameras and promising mutual cooperation with communist China. Former President Bill Clinton. He recently headlined a China Internet conference and made no mention of jailed journalists or China's crippling press restrictions. Clinton, quoted as saying Chinese limits on free speech were not hurting e-commerce.
New York Governor George Pataki, embarking on a trade mission, where human rights, exploding trade deficits and rampant Chinese piracy are not on the agenda.
LUCIE MORILLON, REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS: This is what they say, that they are dealing with business, and that they don't want to mix business and politics. But I'm sorry, with a country like China, business and politics are very, very close.
ROMANS: Critics say American politicians are complacent as China jails political opponents, manipulates its currency, and subsidizing low-wage factories that have put hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work, all while its military grows unabated.
But one former ambassador to China says American policy is not appeasement, it's engagement.
AMBASSADOR JAMES SASSER, U.S.-CHINA POLICY FOUNDATION: We've got to keep a gentle pressure on them, to move them forward politically, and move them forward in the area of human rights. But all in all, we've got to realize that we have to be realistic, and we want to be careful and not make enemies of them unless we absolutely are forced to do so.
ROMANS: Pataki's office did not return a call for comment, but the trade group arranging his trip said, quote, "it is a trade mission. Governors don't make foreign policy."
Clinton has said he was unaware of the much publicized jailing of a Chinese journalist, an arrest that press and human rights groups are angry he did not mention in his speech.
And Bush? He will meet Mr. Hu again, next time in China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: This week, Bush told reporters he will bring up human rights issues, and, well, many hope he will make good on his word. And add to that unfair trade practices, piracy, military growth. China is a huge and growing challenge for American foreign policy, but so far critics say it's been a lot of trade missions and photo ops, not real pressure on China.
DOBBS: It's remarkable, Clinton and Bush and Pataki and...
ROMANS: Many others.
DOBBS: ... the list will go on, ignoring the realities of what is a disastrous economic relationship for the United States, and no sign whatsoever that it will improve quickly. Of course, President Hu and President Bush shook hands and said they're going to get to work on that.
ROMANS: Mutual cooperation.
DOBBS: Absolutely. Christine, thank you.
Finally tonight, Pulitzer Prize-winning "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller has been in prison now for 71 days for protecting her confidential sources in the White House CIA leak case. By the way, we still haven't seen that investigation conclude.
Thanks for being with us tonight. For all of us here, good night from New York. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" starts right now -- Anderson.
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