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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Texas Court Issues Arrest Warrant for Tom DeLay; White House Under Pressure in CIA Leak Case; Report Says U.S. Still Not Taking Steps To Prevent Terrorist Attack; New Report On How Well Kids Are Doing In School; Administration Not Challenging China On Trade
Aired October 19, 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: Good evening, everybody.
We begin tonight with a major development in the intense legal battle between former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle. A Texas court today issued an arrest warrant for DeLay and ordered DeLay to appear at a county jail for booking. Prosecutor Ronnie Earle has accused DeLay of conspiracy and money laundering. DeLay insists he's done nothing wrong, and he says Earle is guilty of prosecutorial misconduct.
We have four reports tonight on what has turned into a major political and legal battle with widespread implications. Joe Johns in Washington, reporting on the rapidly developing story on the arrest warrant for DeLay. Dana Bash at the White House, reporting on the impact of this legal battle on a White House already facing other major political challenges. Bill Schneider in Washington, reporting on the political fallout for Republicans and Democrats of the rising number of political scandals. And Jeffrey Toobin, here in New York, reporting on the extraordinary legal battle under way in Texas now, and where the confrontation is likely headed.
We begin with Joe Johns in Washington. Joe?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lou, it's a formality for the court, but not the kind of thing a powerful politician would put on his resume. The warrant issued in Austin today calls for any sheriff or peace officer of the state of Texas to arrest Tom DeLay, with bond to be set at $10,000, as the process begins now on DeLay's indictment on charges of criminal conspiracy for allegedly laundering campaign funds.
He's already had to give up his title, majority leader, his office suite as a result of the indictment. And now, DeLay also has to be booked.
We're told that arrangements were being made today for DeLay to be booked in Fort Bend County, Texas, in Congressman DeLay's home district. DeLay's media people are not confirming that. The only information we have from them is that DeLay's previously scheduled first court appearance is still on track to occur Friday morning in Austin. We're still waiting for something official from DeLay's team of lawyers. What we do know is that there have been concerns about creating a media circus in Austin, where the indictment was brought.
Lou.
DOBBS: Thank you very much. Joe Johns.
The news of the arrest warrant issued for Tom DeLay comes at a terrible time for this White House, already reeling from the CIA-White House leak investigation. DeLay is a very close political ally, of course, of the president. Some have called DeLay the hammer, reflecting the immense power that DeLay wields as House majority leader, pushing through the president's agenda on Capitol Hill, and with great success.
DeLay has been called the most powerful man in Washington after the president. And he is a major force in the Republican Party, giving more money to congressional candidates than any other lawmaker, raising money that seems almost unlimited.
In his home state of Texas, DeLay helped take control of the state legislature in 2002, and helped in the redrawing of congressional boundaries. That helped Republicans win five more seats in Congress two years later.
One example of DeLay's no-holds-barred style of politics, he famously ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to find the plane that was carrying Texas Democrats when they tried to avoid a vote on redistricting.
Dana Bash reports on the escalating political troubles from the White House tonight. Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, everything you just described really drives home how political trouble for Tom DeLay really could mean political trouble here at the White House. As far as DeLay goes and the arrest warrant, there is no comment so far here at the White House. They did say when he was first indicted that the president still considers him a friend and an ally, somebody who they're going to sort of watch, obviously, and withhold comment until the legal process runs its course.
But as you can imagine, Lou, there's a lot more concern at this hour about what's going on inside the walls of the White House, what may or may not happen to top aides to both the president and vice president in the leak investigation. And CNN was told today by a knowledgeable source not to expect any kind of announcement from the special prosecutor this week. What that means is more time for Bush aides to be in kind of a suspended animation, waiting to see what will happen.
Now senior officials, meanwhile, do tell us that Karl Rove and others are quietly sort of personally making decisions about what would happen, sort of contingency plans if they are indicted -- possibly to step aside. But aides do say that there are no real strategy sessions here to talk about who would replace Karl Rove or others if they did have to step aside.
However, we are told that those discussions are very likely going at the highest levels here at the White House. But despite all of that, we are told, Wolf, from Bush aide after Bush aide that they are going about business as usual, trying to just keep their head down, do their work, not talking about this around the water cooler.
Lou.
DOBBS: Dana Bash, not around the water cooler, but on the front pages of the "Washington Post," reports that, in point of fact, the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, had decided not to issue a report, suggesting to many or permitting the inference that does mean indictments will be forthcoming.
Any reaction at the White House?
BASH: No, not at all yet. In fact, we -- CNN has not confirmed that that is a possibility or a probability, I should say. But I can tell that you there -- as I said, there is privately a lot of concern, a lot of, as I said, suspended animation, waiting to see if the other shoe will drop.
And they read on the newspaper as much as we know. They really don't have a lot of information, in terms of the senior aides here, as to what Fitzgerald will do. And the fact this likely won't be resolved until next week certainly doesn't make it easier on them here.
DOBBS: Dana Bash from the White House. Thank you.
BASH: Thank you.
DOBBS: For more on the political impact of the arrest warrant issued for Tom DeLay today, and the rising political problems for this White House, our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, joins us.
Bill, what are the implications right now for the White House and congressional Republicans in terms of an arrest warrant being issued?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Oh, of course an arrest warrant is an embarrassment, a very big embarrassment, a very big image problem. I mean, wait until people get their hands on that mug shot.
Look, remember in the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, when the United States pursued a strategy against Saddam Hussein of decapitation, we called it, we tried to strike quickly to remove the top leadership of Saddam Hussein's regime. Well, that seems to be what's happening here with the Republicans in Congress, decapitate Tom DeLay and the whole operation could fall apart. At least that's some people's calculation.
It's going to be very tough to hold the Republicans together without DeLay, the enforcer, the hammer, the guy who's really held it together. Republican loyalty is already in question for the White House. They're in revolt on a number of issues in the Senate, on the Harriet Miers nomination, and in the House, particularly on spending, the prescription drug plan, and on immigration, on a lot of issues.
Without DeLay at the top, it could fall apart. DOBBS: Bill Schneider, these are very smart, savvy, political operators, Tom DeLay, Ronnie Earle, in Travis County, Texas, this White House, the Democratic Party, in Washington. They surely knew that this was going to be high stakes -- a high-stakes battle, yet it seems as if Tom DeLay here has been caught unaware.
SCHNEIDER: Yes. Well, clearly, he had made the calculation that he could do this and keep his fingerprints off of it. He's had a very aggressive prosecutor go after him, and claims to have found the fingerprints. That will be up for a jury to decide.
But this is a criminal indictment, it's a very serious matter. What you described is a kind of political theater. That is certainly going on here, and the arrest warrant is part of those theatrics.
Jonathan Toobin (sic) told me earlier that it didn't have to happen this way, it wasn't strictly routine -- that the prosecutor could have said, as often happens in a white collar case, we don't have to issue an arrest warrant. That's part of the theatrics of this case.
DOBBS: And in terms of those political theatrics, is there a retaliatory move, in your judgment, in the offing from the White House and from the Republican Party to what is beginning to look like a very personal battle between Ronnie Earle and Tom DeLay?
SCHNEIDER: That battle is very personal. I'm not sure the White House wants to get involved in that, in that test of wills between these two very powerful figures.
And I don't think the White House is going to inject itself too clearly in this. The argument coming from Republicans is, it's all partisan, it's all politics. Some of it certainly is, but it's pretty clear that Tom DeLay went right up to the edge when he engineered that redistricting plan that netted the Republicans five new seats in Texas.
That was his plan, and he pushed right up to the edge. The question is, did he go over the edge?
DOBBS: Bill Schneider, thank you very much. And Bill Schneider, I'm going to go you one better. You talked with Jonathan Toobin, I'm going talk with our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin...
SCHNEIDER: Jeffrey Toobin.
DOBBS: ... on this extraordinary legal battle.
This arrest warrant, is that just a personal insult, a personal attack? Does it represent this is descended to new depths?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Not exactly. The way -- the way Texas law works is, when there is an indictment, it is usually but not always a formality that an arrest warrant is issued. But in many white collar cases, the defense attorney and the prosecutor work out a surrender time for the defendant without an arrest warrant being issued. That's kind of the civilized way to do it when there's not a great deal of animosity.
DOBBS: Does it strike you that there is anything civil in this battle between Ronnie Earle and Tom DeLay?
TOOBIN: Not a bit. And this arrest warrant is further proof of that, because Ronnie Earle is no dummy. He knows that an arrest warrant for one of the most powerful politicians in the United States is an enormously newsworthy event, it's very embarrassing. He could have stopped it, he didn't. So he -- this is one aspect of the fight between Earle and DeLay.
DOBBS: The mechanics, the indictment is handed down from the grand jury, now this arrest warrant. The prosecutor had to ask for that specifically, did he not, of a judge?
TOOBIN: The timing he could control, yes.
DOBBS: And having done that, it makes it his personal decision. And the arrest warrant -- would be necessary for a man, a sitting congressman, after all -- what would be the purpose of it under these circumstances besides pure political retribution?
TOOBIN: Well, what -- what the Earle people say is that this is simply a matter of routine, that this is not...
DOBBS: But one would expect them to say that.
TOOBIN: Right. But, no, your point is well taken, which is this is an example of embarrassing DeLay. And the mug shot and the fingerprints will also be very humiliating. That -- clearly, there is no choice. Anybody charged with a crime has to be booked.
DOBBS: And tactically, Jeff, is there anything that DeLay can do to either forestall that or to stop the booking process?
TOOBIN: He can't. But one thing he has done is he has already subpoenaed Ronnie Earle, claiming prosecutorial misconduct in this case. So there will be a hearing in this trial on the legitimacy of the prosecution. So like many criminal defendants, he's trying to put the prosecutor on the defensive.
DOBBS: Is it possible that we could hear from the state attorney general on this issue as well?
TOOBIN: I doubt it. I think the state attorney general, who is a Republican and a statewide elected official, has stayed out of this. And I think at the moment it's really going to just be between the Travis County district attorney, Ronnie Earle, and his most celebrated defendant, Tom DeLay.
DOBBS: Leaving Tom DeLay twisting, if I may use an old expression, twisting slowly in the wind?
TOOBIN: Indeed. And that's where he stands today.
DOBBS: Jeffrey Toobin, thank you very much. Turning now to another major political controversy for the Republican Party and the Bush White House, the Harriet Miers nomination to the Supreme Court. The Senate Judiciary Committee today announced its hearings into the Miers' nomination will begin November 7. But it is ordering Miers to submit more substantive and complete answers about her background and her qualifications before then.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter says Miers' responses so far have been insufficient. The senator says he's unhappy with the nomination to this point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I think it's been a chaotic process, very candidly, as to what has happened because of all of the conference calls and all of the discussions which are alleged in the back room.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Harriet Miers and Senator Specter are now in disagreement over what was said on Miers' views on abortion during a private meeting that they held this week. Senator Specter said today the Miers hearings could drag on, in his view, past Thanksgiving.
The day's other principal story, Hurricane Wilma. Wilma tonight remains a massive Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 160 miles an hour. Wilma is now the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. And it is on a collision course with southern Florida.
Hurricane Wilma is expected to slam into Florida's western coast between Tampa and the Florida Keys this weekend. And then the hurricane could head up the East Coast.
We'll have complete coverage of Hurricane Wilma throughout the hour. Meteorologist Chad Myers joins us from the CNN Weather Center. We'll have live reports from both Florida and Cuba, which is already being hit by the outer bands of this powerful hurricane.
Still ahead tonight, why the president wants to give jobs to foreigners that he claims Americans won't do. And why his theory is, as we will demonstrate here tonight, nothing more than a colossal myth. Our special report is coming up.
And Americans are becoming addicted to cheaper Chinese products. We'll tell you why Chinese imports are taking away American jobs.
And the White House and Congress have virtually ignored the suggestions of the 9/11 Commission. One of the panel's members is our guest here next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: New information this hour on Hurricane Wilma. Residents in the Florida Keys will begin a mandatory evacuation tomorrow beginning at noon. Hurricane Wilma is an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane. It is the biggest storm ever in the Atlantic, it is likely to slam into the Florida coast this weekend.
Chad Myers is at the CNN Weather Center and has the very latest for us. Chad, what can you tell us about Wilma's path, its intensity, its scale tonight?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the oil patch, a big sigh of relief, the people of Florida, a big gasp -- because as this storm moves very close to Cancun, that big resort town there on top of the Yucatan peninsula, it's going to make a hard right turn, and make a right turn at the Keys, or possibly even South Florida.
Look how large this thing is, Lou, all the way from Cuba, all the way down to Honduras. And it's not even close to the U.S. But there are some showers and thunderstorms across parts of Florida already. We'll have more a little later.
DOBBS: Chad Myers. Thank you. We'll be back to you.
Turning now to our nation's border crisis, after 21 months of silence on the issue of immigration reform, President Bush now acknowledges that this country has a serious border problem. But the president still wants a guest worker program in this country to fill the jobs that he says Americans won't do. Critics say the idea that Americans won't do those jobs is nothing more than a myth.
Christine Romans has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This White House is determined to keep the cheap foreign labor flowing for corporate America.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If an employer has a job that no American is willing to take, we need to find a way to fill that demand by matching willing employers with willing worker from foreign countries on a temporary and legal base.
ROMANS: And his team is on message.
ELAINE CHAO, LABOR SECRETARY: We need to serve America's economy by matching willing workers with willing employees, willing workers with willing employers in a clear, efficient and timely process.
ROMANS: Three million of those willing workers cross the border illegally each year for jobs. And employers are more than willing. That pool of cheap illegal labor keeps their costs down. But many say the administration is working on a false assumption that illegal aliens and foreign labor do jobs Americans won't do.
JOHN WAHALA, CTR. FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: That premise again violates a basic economic principle that says, if an employer can't find a worker, they will use a free market, make their job more attractive, and then a worker will be willing to do that job.
ROMANS: The White House wants to match willing foreign workers and willing employers. But where does that leave the 10 million Americans who are out of work?
The government's own data show 12 percent unemployment for dishwashers; 10 percent for food preparation workers, counter clerks and grounds workers; 9 percent for cooks; and 7 percent for janitors.
ANDREW STERN, SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTL. UNION: There is a sufficient labor pool in America right now to do the jobs that need to be done.
ROMANS: He says in any city in America, a reasonable wage will attract a willing American or legal immigrant worker.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Lou, Andy Stern of the Service Employees Union, he says, "It's ridiculous to say in many of these jobs there are not Americans to do them." He goes on to say, "In any city where there are reasonable wages we can find people to do those jobs" -- Lou.
DOBBS: That's an important statement. In any city of the country where there are reasonable wages, there are Americans ready to do those jobs.
Now, the Labor secretary -- now this is remarkable. I mean, we've heard a lot of nonsense from this administration and the previous -- it's not a partisan thing -- about willing workers and willing employees, all of that nonsense. But the Labor secretary has these statistics in front of her, correct?
ROMANS: She does. She has -- it's her department that makes these statistics.
DOBBS: So this isn't a surprise to anybody.
ROMANS: It shouldn't be a surprise to Washington. Now they're talking about they want a timely and orderly fashion of putting together workers and employers. Well, a lot of critics say there already is a system to do that, and it's overwhelmed, it doesn't work, and, in fact, it would be folly to think that letting more people in, they would be able to do it any better.
DOBBS: The clear statement is this: despite having a multibillion-dollar, tens of billions we're spending on Homeland Security, a Labor Department that doesn't look at its own statistics, and a president who is talking about matching willing workers and willing employees, what the Labor secretary said, she said we're here to serve the economy. That economy, the backbone of the foundation of it, is the middle class. And I hope, I would hope that someone in Washington would start paying attention to that fact.
Christine Romans, as always, thank you.
We've reported on the outrage in communities all across this country over day labor centers for illegal aliens, some of them funded by taxpayers. Tonight, New York City is taking a new and different approach to this controversial issue. Mayor Michael Bloomberg today set up a commission to examine the possibility of opening up a center in the city. But the mayor stressed that any such day labor center could only help find work for immigrants who are in this country legally.
Good going, Mr. Mayor.
Tonight, the case of a Mexican illegal alien charged with homicide in Texas is creating a serious new rift between Mexico and the United States. The Mexican government has now criticized Texas investigators in a case that made headlines during the Hurricane Rita disaster.
Casey Wian has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Twenty-three senior citizens died in this horrific bus fire while trying to flee Hurricane Rita last month. The bus driver was originally identified as a hero in news reports, including one by this network that said he helped pull victims from the burning bus.
Now the Dallas, Texas, County sheriff says after interviews with several witnesses, she can find no evidence the driver helped anyone. In fact, this week the sheriff charged driver Juan Robles Gutierrez, an illegal alien from Mexico, with 23 counts of murder for each of the passengers' deaths.
SHERIFF LUPE VALDEZ, DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS: We believe the evidence collected thus far indicate that the bus driver contributed to the death of 23 of the persons who were aboard the bus that were under his control.
WIAN: Sheriff's investigators say Robles should have known the bus had mechanical problems. During an earlier trip that day, it skidded for more than a mile on a bare wheel rim. So many sparks were flying that a passing motorist forced the bus to stop. Instead of checking into the problem, he simply changed the tire and continued on the fatal journey.
Now the Mexican government has assigned consulates in four cities to monitor Robles' case. The Dallas consulate is watching the sheriff's murder charges. Houston is handling the NTSB investigation; San Antonio his immigration case. And McAllen is trying to recover $9,000 in back wages Robles claims he's owed by the now-defunct bus company.
The "San Antonio Express-News" in Wednesday's edition quoted Mexican Consulate Legal Affairs Official Agustin Rodriguez, saying, "It's obvious the sheriff has conducted a sloppy investigation. I don't understand how he reached this conclusion so quickly."
SGT. DON PERITZ, DALLAS COUNTY SHERIFF SPOKESMAN: Well, it's unfortunate that he made that type of a statement without knowing all the facts that we know. We don't want to air some of the small detail of this case before a grand jury has a chance to look at it. WIAN: A grand jury is expected to hear the case next week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: Now, we spoke with Mr. Rodriguez at the Mexican consulate in San Antonio today by phone and read him the quote about a sloppy investigation. He says he doesn't recall saying that.
We also spoke to the "Express-News" reporter, Hernand Rosenberg (ph), who says he stands by his story -- Lou.
DOBBS: And sheriff Valdez is not, as the council spokesman said, a he, but rather a she.
WIAN: Correct.
DOBBS: It's extraordinary. Four consulates trying to interfere in this process?
WIAN: Well, we asked the sheriff's spokesperson today if, in fact, this incredible effort, unusual effort by the Mexican government, is getting in the way of the investigation. He says so far, it has not -- Lou.
DOBBS: Well, that part is good news. Thank you very much. Casey Wian.
Still ahead, the U.S. military versus one of its NATO allies. A growing debate over three American soldiers now charged with murder.
And America's dangerous addiction to cheap Chinese goods. From textiles to electronics, American consumers want them and China is more than willing to sell them. And more American jobs are now at risk as a result. A special report coming up next.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Another rupture in the relationship between the United States and Spain. A Spanish court today ordered the arrest of three of our soldiers who were found to have been only defending themselves from enemy fire in Baghdad two-and-a-half years ago. A Spanish court says those three soldiers murdered a Spanish TV cameraman when their tank fired at a hotel. A U.S. military investigation concluded that those soldiers were justified in opening fire.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today challenging communist China to clearly demonstrate it wants to improve relations with the United States. On the first full day of his visit to Beijing, Secretary Rumsfeld declared China is raising suspicions about its intentions by rapidly expanding its military power. Rumsfeld said the United States wants a peaceful and prosperous China that contributes to international peace.
Such is the language of diplomacy. As Donald Rumsfeld confronts China on its dangerous military buildup, no one in the Bush administration is seriously challenging China on a host of issues, including trade and the flood of cheap Chinese goods being exported into the United States. American consumers have become addicted to those low-cost Chinese product, even as those low-cost Chinese products cost Americans their jobs. China is more than eager, however, to feed those consumers' growing habit.
Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Typical American home, nearly everything is made in China, everything on this table, in the kitchen, accessories, home office. Americans are increasingly addicted to Chinese products.
The greatest irony, this "Made in America" sign made in China. More than 80 percent of the increase in manufactured goods this year is stuff that comes from China. And American manufacturers are being crushed.
CASS JOHNSON, NAT. COUNCIL OF TEXTILE ORGANIZATIONS: The problem is we're not competing against Chinese manufacturers, we're actually competing against the Chinese government. There are so many subsidies, so many benefits. There's no way that a private corporation in the United States can compete against that.
PILGRIM: It's not just toys and household goods. One of the highest categories of imports these days is Chinese-made electronics, must-have for America's kids. In the last four years, Chinese appliances in U.S. stores up 60 percent. Chinese furniture up 50 percent.
Designer clothes, fine linens, as well as cheap textiles poured into the country. All those imports come at a cost, American jobs. Thirty-one U.S. textiles mills folded this year, 18,000 jobs in the textile industry alone.
PILGRIM: Some in Congress say stop talking about free trade, start enforcing trade rules such as intellectual property rights.
REP. BEN CARDIN (D) MARYLAND: We're taking our product and stealing it, literally -- and the government actually being part of that operation that allows a separate company to be set up just to pirate our product here in America.
PILGRIM: A fourth round of textile talks with China has just failed. And the United States says it has a right to try to protect its textile industry under World Trade Organization rules.
Now, China responds by saying the United States has politicized the issue. But it is jobs, not politics, that's really what's at stake.
Lou. DOBBS: You know, it's just amazing to me. This is becoming quickly, if not a nation, a government of fools, because the statistics are clear, the reality is straightforward, it's nonpartisan. And yet, these mindless, so-called free trade policies are being pursued by both Democrats and Republicans. It's incredible.
PILGRIM: It's really amazing that 80 percent of all the new things that are coming in are from China, and no one is noticing.
DOBBS: And no one in Washington seems to have any interest whatsoever in representing this country's middle class. Kitty, thank you very much.
That brings us to the subject of our poll tonight. Do you believe the Bush administration is following a policy of appeasement toward the Chinese government: yes or no?
Cast your vote at LOUDOBBS.com. We'll have the results later here in the broadcast.
The Russian government announced today that its bird flu crisis is widening. Russia says birds near Moscow have now tested positive for the deadliest form of this disease. Birds have already tested positive for avian flu in Siberia. Bird flu has been found now in 16 countries. The disease has spread to humans in four countries: Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia. Sixty people have died.
Turning now to a rapidly developing threat to this country, the most powerful hurricane ever is tonight headed toward Florida, just weeks after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,200 people.
After Hurricane Katrina, there was Hurricane Rita last month that also caused widespread damage in the Gulf Coast region. Ten people were killed.
And now, Hurricane Wilma which the National Hurricane Center says is a potentially catastrophic, Category 5 storm with powerful winds extending up to 230 miles from the center.
Tonight, we have complete coverage of what has turned out to be a massive hurricane.
Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center with the latest on the path and the intensity of Wilma. Susan Candiotti reports from Punta Gorda, Florida, where Hurricane Wilma could slam into the coast this weekend with devastating force.
And Lucia Newman from Havana, Cuba where hundreds of thousands of people are already being evacuated from their homes.
First, we go to Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center. Chad, what is the latest on the expected path and its intensity?
MYERS: And I have a plane in it, so I really do have the latest. The latest wind was 171 miles per hour. That's where the plane flies, a little above the surface, but still very strong Category 5 storm.
It is traveling very close and basically headed right to Cozumel, to Cancun and then will turn to the right and maybe miss some things, miss other things and then really, kind of, as it stops here over the Yucatan and turns right, it will make a beeline toward the Florida coast, the west coast, of course, and the Florida Keys -- still a very tight eye wall here.
The storm, forecast to be a Category 5 through tomorrow. Now look how long this takes. Here's Saturday afternoon; here's Sunday afternoon, making landfall somewhere.
We have to think about the cone from Tampa down to possibly south of Havana. That will be Sunday afternoon, maybe Sunday night, somewhere around 8:00 or 9:00 -- depends where it goes.
Here's the problem, Lou. We've had all these computer models -- and the computers are only as smart as the guys and the ladies who program them. But many of the computer models are now going over Florida. But the ones that were this morning were more over Florida than what we're seeing now.
Many of the ones -- and these are all just spaghetti lines, here, to you. But I'll tell you what. They mean something to the meteorologists at the Hurricane Center and us here. Here's Cancun, and here's Cuba. Many of them now are actually taking the storm south of Cuba. And that would be great news for the U.S., bad news for the folks down there.
Believe it or not, there's already one of the outer bands. This thing is 700 miles away and there's still one of the outer bands already moving into the Florida Keys, Monroe County, later on this afternoon and this evening. And there you go. One very severe storm, headed not that far from Naples.
What's going to kick this out? A big storm out in Kansas, believe it or not. This storm making tornado warnings with tornadoes on the ground in Kansas about a half an hour ago. That will be the kicker that pushes the storm out to sea.
Lou.
DOBBS: Chad Myers, thank you.
Even though Hurricane Wilma is not expected to strike Florida until this weekend, officials have ordered tourists to leave the Florida Keys. Residents will be mandatorily evacuated beginning tomorrow.
The National Hurricane Center says the most likely point of impact for Hurricane Wilma is now Florida's southwestern coast.
Susan Candiotti has our report from Punta Gorda, Florida. Susan?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Lou. The possibility that Wilma could be hitting this part of Florida has nerves frayed, as you can well imagine. So preparations are definitely under way in Collier County, in Charlotte County, because no one is quite clear, naturally, where the storm might hit.
Nerves are frayed. People are worried about what is going to happen. And primarily, that is why they are stocking up on hurricane supplies, topping off their gas tanks and taking other preparations.
You will remember what happened here a year ago, August: Hurricane Charley -- that was the main storm that started it all last year, the first of four hurricanes that hit Florida, and it edged farther south than initially expected.
So people who live in places like, primarily FEMA village, here under 500 trailers, remain. So, all these people still remain homeless. They have nowhere to go and they are being warned by FEMA to move out of here.
Problem, is again, where are they supposed to go? There are no Red Cross shelters in Charlotte County because of the height above sea level here.
Instead, the county has set up sort of bare bone places of last resort. Otherwise, folks are being told to just move somewhere else if they can. This pretty much sums it all, Lou: a local newspaper headline. "Wilma, please don't!"
Back to you.
DOBBS: A sentiment shared throughout the Caribbean. Thank you very much, Susan Candiotti, from Punta Gorda.
The National Hurricane Center, to give you some idea of just how powerful this storm is -- it says Hurricane Wilma could dump as much as 25 inches of rain on Cuba.
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans are being evacuated now from their homes. Lucia Newman has the report from Havana. Lucia?
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Lou. Well, as usual in Cuba, the evacuations start early. And we are told by authorities here that, in Pinar Del Rio province alone -- that's on the western tip of the island, at least a quarter of a million people will be evacuated from there.
That's the province that's famous for the tobacco used to make Cuban cigars. Now, Pinar Del Rio and Havana are the most vulnerable areas.
And, speaking of evacuations, we are told that U.S. diplomats here and their families are being evacuated to Washington on a voluntary basis. And I know some of them are leaving tomorrow morning on the first flight, Lou.
Now, most people here, where do they go? They go to government shelters, some, others to the homes of friends or relatives that live in houses that are deemed to be safe and are far away from the water. But the big, big concern here is of flooding. This island has already been drenched, first by Hurricane Dennis, then by Hurricane Rita.
Flooding is a big, big problem, as we saw with Katrina. It's what causes the worst damage. And we are told by Cuba's chief meteorologists that there could, in fact, be some flooding as early as this evening in the southwestern is part of the island.
Lou.
DOBBS: Lucia, thank you very much.
And again, the National Hurricane Center is saying that Cuba could be hit with as much as 25 inches of rain. Lucia Newman, from Havana.
Just ahead, ideas ignored. Former members of the 9/11 Commission say that the U.S. government is not doing enough to protect this nation from terrorism. One of the commissioners is our guest here next.
And how are the nation's schools performing under the president's No Child Left Behind Act? One official behind the nation's new report card will be our guest.
Stay with us.
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DOBBS: A report that will be released tomorrow will say the United States is still not taking important steps to protect its citizens from another terrorist attack.
Former members of the September 11 Commission will say in that report that Congress and the White House have ignored key recommendations made last year, more than a year after the 9/11 Report.
The United States has still not moved on commission recommendations to improve border security that would prevent terrorists from crossing our northern and southern borders. This country has failed to move on committee recommendations to increase baggage and cargo screening for explosives. It still has not improved prescreening rules for airline passengers and it has not yet set up a unified command system for a terrorist attack. And not enough progress is being made on issuing standardized secure IDs to our citizens.
The FBI is expected to be singled out as the agency that has repeatedly ignored the commission's recommendations.
Tim Roemer, former 9/11 Commission member, joins us tonight from Washington. Good to have you here.
Why, in your judgment, is the federal government, charged with national security, ignoring after accepting so much -- accepting all of the report, now ignoring those recommendations?
TIM ROEMER, FORMER 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: Well, Lou, we put this report out over a year ago with 41 recommendations to make this country safer. We lost 3,000 people, it cost us tens of billions of dollars in damage. And how would you feel if the White House and your government and Congress was then saying we're only going to pass half of these reforms, so in effect, we'll protect half of your family -- not the entire family, half of them?
We need to have this government get serious about taking our culture and our institutions at the FBI, the CIA, the Congress into fighting this hot war, not the Cold War against the Soviet Union. We need new ideas. Here are the ideas. We need Congress to be the champion of reforming our institutions, not protecting the status quo.
DOBBS: John Negroponte has assigned Porter Goss, the CIA director, to take over all human intelligence. Do you see that as a positive step?
ROEMER: I do see some progress there.
The DNI, the director of national intelligence, has been created. That was a recommendation from the commission. They've created a counterterrorism center, that was a recommendation.
We'll talk about some of the positives, as well as some of the problems in the FBI, in Congress.
DOBBS: In terms of the FBI, what are your specific complaints about what the FBI has done or not done?
ROEMER: Well, you've covered some of these, Lou.
Technology and communication -- we've had the FBI spend close to $300 million of taxpayers' money for a virtual case file system; in effect, tried to move from communicating with each other from index cards and typewriters into the 21st century.
When we have people coming across our border -- more and more non-Mexican, non-Latin Americans are coming through, what are they doing when they get here? How do we communicate from field office to field office in the FBI? How do we train our FBI agents for better language skills and translation of tapes?
We're not doing that fast enough. We're not creating the national security workforce in the FBI quickly enough to take on this threat.
DOBBS: And border security, which the commission focused on intently, it seems to be considered something of a game, a joke that this administration will not deal with.
ROEMER: Lou, you know, a lot of people watch you every night, and maybe some say, jeez, that Lou Dobbs is really, you know, infatuated with this issue. I don't think you concentrate enough on it.
We have to address immigration reform -- use biometrics, as the 9/11 Commission has said, on the border, use better technology, do something about three times the number of people coming across our southern border that might be from the Middle East.
We need to make sure that al Qaeda and jihadists use paper -- and manipulate our travel system and our borders. We need to make sure we're anticipating what they're going to do next.
DOBBS: Congressman Curt Weldon, Tim, has made a very primary issue out of a secret Pentagon report. Why is there no mention of Able Danger in the 9/11 Report? Can you answer that for us?
ROEMER: Absolutely, Lou. Congressman Weldon has said that there was a chart that identified Atta before 9/11. If we would have seen that chart, if there was a chart that existed and it was put before the 9/11 Commission, it'd probably be front and center on this book because what we say in our book is government failed to communicate and share information.
Able Danger may have put together some good information. We have not seen a chart, however, that would have said Atta was somebody that was a terrorist identified before 9/11.
The DOD, Defense Department has looked for this chart. They haven't found it. The White House has looked for it. They haven't found it. It doesn't exist.
DOBBS: But the Pentagon at the same time, Tim, as you know, has stopped two of the principal witnesses here -- the DOD has stopped them from ever moving forward with their further public statements.
Is there anything that the Congress should be doing right now? Because some of the coincidence, after being told that Able Danger material was not put before the commission, occurred twice, once in October of 2003, which happens to be the same period that Sandy Berger, the Clinton administration's former national security adviser was accused of destroying documents. It's led to all sorts of speculation about what was destroyed, how it related to the Pentagon's secret project, Able Danger, and what it knew about Mohammed Atta.
ROEMER: Well, first of all, Lou, let's be very clear. The information with Sandy Berger had nothing to do with -- we got all that information in the 9/11 Commission, so there's no issue there.
With respect to Able Danger or data mining, you know, trying to piece together information that terrorists are talking to certain people, and they put together these spider diagrams to show how they communicate, who they communicate with, that's a very, very valuable mechanism for us to track terrorists.
We do it at the CIA, we do it at the FBI. Those are valuable means purportedly we were doing at Able Danger and DOD. It's not as if it was only going on at DOD.
What Congressman Weldon and others have claimed -- and I'd love to see the chart. I'd love to see the evidence, where's the beef of this? I'd love to see it. DOBBS: So would all Americans.
Tim Roemer, we thank you for what you're doing, what you've accomplished, and we wish you luck going forward.
ROEMER: Thank you, sir.
DOBBS: Tim Roemer.
A reminder now to vote in our poll tonight on a separate issue: Do you believe the Bush administration is following a policy of appeasement toward the Chinese government, yes or no? Cast your vote at LOUDOBBS.com.
Today, the most powerful man in the world met one of the most popular entertainers in the world. President Bush today meeting with U2 singer Bono at the White House. There is Bono approaching the White House. The two men managed to have lunch in the Oval Office. They stood up and had this picture taken shortly afterwards. The president wore a traditional suit with tie; Bono wore traditional blue jeans with sunglasses. They talked about Bono's fight for African debt relief.
Bono is, of course, not the first rock star to ever visit the Oval Office. Here is another famous one, Elvis Presley meeting with Richard Nixon there in the 1970s. My gosh, Elvis without a tie as well.
Just ahead, the state of our nation's schools and students. A new report examines how our young people are measuring up in school, especially in the critical areas of math and reading. I'll be joined by Charles Smith, a leading authority on that report.
Stay with us.
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DOBBS: A sobering report today shows little improvement in the test scores of our nation's students. The report card administered by the Department of Education showed no progress in the reading skills of fourth and eighth graders. Math scores were up slightly.
Joining me now from Washington, Charles Smith. He's the executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board that issued today's report. Charles, good to have you here. President Bush called this report encouraging. What is your personal assessment?
CHARLES SMITH, DIR., NATL. ASSESSMENT GOV. BOARD: Well, I think, Lou, that I see some very positive elements of this report, specifically the gain in scores that we're seeing in mathematics continue as a trend that has accelerated over the past five or six years -- very positive developments there.
In reading at the fourth grade level, we've seen some gains in this decade that are very impressive -- not as impressive as math, but certainly moving in the right direction. Our concern would be with reading at the eighth grade level, where we have not seen any particular gain in the scores.
I think also one element that needs to be brought out here is that the gaps between the white students and the minorities in our nation continue to close, and this report shows that very clearly. And these gains are occurring at a time when the demographic shift in our nation's population is rather dramatic.
DOBBS: An excellent point. If we could, I'd like to -- can we put up a chart of these gains that we're talking about here? Those are the gains in terms of reading for the fourth grade. Reading for the fourth grade, in point of fact, is not really that much of an improvement. It's one point higher, in point of fact, this year than it was in 2003.
The national average eighth grade reading score is, in point of fact, a point lower than in 2003. I find it -- if I may say, Charles -- difficult get excited about that. It's not deteriorating; that's the good news, it seems to me. How are we going to get excited about this as improvement?
SMITH: Well, as I said, I think the reading is certainly an area where we need to focus attention. The most positive thing, I think, is that even though the overall decline that you just reflected on the chart within those numbers, the minorities -- the Hispanics and the black numbers -- have increased by two points which is a significant improvement. Not, obviously, what we want, but at least a closing of a gap that's existed too long.
DOBBS: Let's put that in percentage terms. What do those two points amount to in percentage terms?
SMITH: Well, in percentage terms, the two points represents the improvement in the scale scores, and that is statistically significant given the size of the sample. We assessed about 660,000 students across the nation. And the margin of error, obviously, is lessened with that large a sample, and even a one percent gain is considered to be significant.
DOBBS: Can ask you something, Charles? As you've looked at this, and there's going to be -- I mean, there are people who reflexively -- they support public education, they support education in this country, and certainly, I do. This broadcast does.
You want to say this is great news, but the focus quantitatively here, which I think happens to be a good thing -- you have to be able to measure success, but I think you also have to be honest about what is success.
We're not dealing with some really fundamental issues in this country like discipline, the fact that half of our black high school students are dropping out of school, half of our Hispanic students are dropping out of high school, the fact we're not dealing with real issues in terms of discipline in the schoolroom, and administrations of our public schools K-12.
How do we get to those real issues and focus on what's important? Because we're not teaching our kids math, we're not teaching them science, and those are the disciplines of the future.
SMITH: Well, I think, Lou, that the real value of the National Assessment, it gives state officials in particular, and federal officials too, a second opinion beyond the state assessments whereby they can gauge where there may be strengths and where they may be weaknesses.
Now, our assessment is not designed to measure cause and effect. So we're not in the position to speak with any authority on the basis of this assessment as to what the cause is of the gains or the losses may be, but we do think that the information is very valuable.
DOBBS: And we agree with you. And, Charles Smith, we thank you for being here to share it. The measurement is absolutely critical and necessary. We thank you.
SMITH: Thank you very much, Lou.
DOBBS: Up next, how you voted in our poll tonight. We'll have a preview of what's coming up tomorrow. Stay with us.
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DOBBS: The results of our poll tonight: 96 percent of you say the Bush administration is following a policy of appeasement toward the Chinese government.
Thanks for being with us tonight. Please join us tomorrow. We'll continue our reporting on the assault on the middle class.
Are American public universities in danger of losing critical taxpayer support? Please be with us.
Good night from New York. ANDERSON COOPER 360 starts right now.
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