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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Wilma's Wrath; Tourists Hoping to get out of Cancun; Cuba Flooding
Aired October 24, 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: And good evening, everybody.
We begin tonight with Hurricane Wilma, which tonight has moved into the Atlantic Ocean after battering much of Florida with powerful winds and rains over the last 24 hours. Wilma stormed ashore as a Category 3 hurricane on the west coast of Florida before striking the heavily-populated east coast. At least three people have been killed as high winds and tornadoes have battered the state.
When Wilma came ashore, the hurricane was 400 miles across, covering much of the southern Florida peninsula. The eye of the hurricane alone, 60 miles across when it made landfall near Marco Island. Hurricane Wilma hit the coast with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles an hour. Wilma knocked out power to more than six million people as it tore down power lines.
We begin with four reports tonight on the impact of Wilma on Florida, on Cancun in Mexico, and on Cuba.
David Mattingly, in Hollywood, in southeast Florida, where residents there are surveying the damage. And Sumi Das reports from Naples, on the western coast, near where the storm slammed into Florida. And Susan Candiotti reports from Cancun, where thousands of Americans are still trapped after Wilma went ashore. Lucia Newman tonight reports from Havana, Cuba, where 35-foot waves crashed over the city's sea wall.
We begin with David Mattingly in Hollywood, Florida, where officials tonight say it's the most damaging hurricane to hit the area in over 50 years -- David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, this is the area known as Florida's Gold Coast. Well, this gold is significantly tarnished tonight after Wilma came across the state and entered the Atlantic Ocean with a roar.
Here in Hollywood, there was widespread property damage, some heavy street flooding in some areas here. Some residents also say there was an early morning tornado possibly, though not confirmed, that tossed around cars and did damage to a construction crane.
During the height of the storm, we also went driving up I-95, up the coast, to see what was going on. We passed by a tractor trailer rig that had been blown over in the wind. Some very strong winds all up and down the coast here.
Damage being reported as far north as Melbourne, Florida. That is almost virtually the entire east coast of Florida here.
And what we have been seeing, we got to the Boca Raton beaches, where we were there as the eye passed over. It was very strong, then suddenly very quiet as the eye was over top of us. Then that -- that edge -- that edge behind the eye wall came through, packing quite a punch.
We came back finding significant property damage. A lot of light poles were down across the expressway that we hadn't seen before. And again, a lot of damage done here, and a lot of cleaning up to be done.
There are blue skies above us right now. The tropical storm warnings have been lifted, but there is still a great deal of breeze, as you might see. Expecting a very bright blue day tomorrow, however, as this cleanup begins in earnest -- Lou.
DOBBS: Thank you very much. David Mattingly, from Hollywood, Florida.
Severe flooding in parts of Naples, near where Hurricane Wilma made landfall today. Sumi Das reports on the impact of this hurricane on Naples and other parts of Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Islamorada in the Keys is a perfect picture description of Wilma's wrath. Just look at what the storm did there.
This structure was demolished. There's severe flooding. You can easily gauge it by this man standing waist high in the water. And a palm tree fell and crashed through this fencing.
The governor of Florida says danger lurks outside, and so people should stay inside.
GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: If you look at deaths that have taken place, with the multitude of storms that hit our state, the day after the storm or the day of the storm, after the storm has passed, is when many people tragically lose their lives.
DAS: Here in Naples, Hurricane Wilma caused flooding, including inundating a parking garage. Fierce winds sent debris flying through the air. The city's mayor says allowing people back into the city will be a cautious procedure.
MAYOR BILL BARNETT, NAPLES, FLORIDA: We're not going to let anyone back into the city. We're going to have checkpoints as soon as the wind does subside. As soon as we were allowed to get out with police and emergency services, we'll just start assessing. But we're just not going to let people, you know, come in at will.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Well, Hurricane Wilma hit the coast of Florida near Marco Island, and powerful storm surges came with it, 125-mile-an-hour winds.
John King is in Marco Island with the report -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And Lou, heavy damage, but officials on this side of Florida say they believe that they will fare better than they had expected, this time yesterday, anyway.
I just spoke to the city manager here in Marco Island. Bill Moss is his name. He says 75 percent of the buildings, 75 percent of the buildings on this island have some structural damage. But he said the good news is that most of it is very minor, screens ripped out, roof tiles ripped off, things like that, some trees down.
There's debris everywhere. Bill Moss says the biggest challenge on Marco Island will be taking the months and months to clean up the debris.
He also was quite optimistic. The power is still out across Marco Island. Bill Moss telling us tonight he believes power will be restored to all but perhaps a few small corners of this island by the end of the day tomorrow.
Now, if you head south, you get closer to where the storm, where Wilma hit land. And the devastation is much more.
We visited a small, gritty fishing village just south of here, Goodland. We had stopped in on Sunday, watching some people evacuate. We finally got in this morning. Our first trip we couldn't make it because of the storm surge had flooded the roads. We could not get through.
We made it in this afternoon. It is mostly trailer parks in that community, and the wrath of Wilma simply devastated many of them. Pieces of metal, pieces of aluminum, the sheeting from those trailers, ripped. The roofs open, insulation everywhere.
So much more reconstruction in the town of Goodland.
And then further to the south, we also visited Everglades City. A dramatic storm surge there. A very small town, 500 or 600 people. Stone crabbing is the big business there.
At one point, the water rose a foot. We were in town and the storm surge rose an additional foot during the time we were there. Three to four feet of water in the street.
Locals, though, say that they get this sometimes after tropical depressions. They expect the water to recede quite quickly. But it was in Everglades City we saw a great deal of devastation. Facades ripped off the front of houses, more trailer park damage, trees down, power lines down.
Lou, the biggest challenge here will be, first, getting the power restored. And then dealing with all the trees, all the debris, that will be a month-long clean-up project. But again, when they thought this Cat 3 was coming head at them here on Marco Island, they had much more devastating expectations than they think they have on their hands tonight -- Lou.
DOBBS: Well, 75 percent of the buildings suffering some sort of damage, that kind of storm surge, the damage certainly more than anyone wants to tolerate. But gathering from your reports and other reports from those folks around south Florida, it appears that the evacuation orders by Governor Jeb Bush were followed here. Not many people around, right?
KING: No question about that, especially in this area. I remember as the storm was hitting, Lou, listening to Gary Tuchman down in Key West saying so many people had stayed in Key West. In this part of the state, in Marco Island, further down in Goodland, where many thought the gritty (ph) fishermen would say, where we went most of the people evacuated.
Here on Marco Island, they say more than 90 percent evacuated of the 20,000 people who were here when those orders were issued. So fewer than 2,000 people were on the island last night. And city officials say that not only minimizes, reduces the risk of anybody getting hurt, it also helps with the debris cleanup, with getting the power crews around, because there are fewer people in the way -- Lou.
DOBBS: John King, thank you very much, from Marco Island.
Many airports in Florida were closed as this hurricane blasted its way across the state, disrupting travel for thousands and thousands of people. Miami International Airport the biggest airport that remains closed tonight. Other major airports, including Palm Beach International and Key West International remain closed as well.
The Federal Aviation Administration says at least a thousand flights have been canceled because of Wilma. Many other flights were diverted away from the hurricane.
Reporters from CNN and our affiliates throughout Florida felt the full impact of this hurricane during the day. Here now are some of the sights and the sounds of our coverage as Wilma roared across the state.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What may be an issue is standing here. I weigh about 170 pounds. It's not so easy right now. I think if you weighed any less, you might be flying down the street.
TOM JAMOS, WBBH: This is a bus stop right here. I just want to give you an idea of how high this storm surge is. I'm sitting here, and you can see the water is just overcoming this bus stop. I'm going to walk away because it's shaking a little bit.
SHOMARI STONE, SFOR: That wind feels like needles on my face. I have on these goggles to protect my eyes. And if you look here, you can see that this sign is just flapping back and forth.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This whole walkway we were -- we were on earlier, but it is completely covered in water.
DON GERMAINE, WFTS: Storm shutters are literally being blown off the building right before our eyes. So that's what happens with just tropical storm-force winds.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The winds, the winds are clearly, clearly 100 miles an hour now. Clearly. And if this isn't dirty side of the storm, I imagine that's pretty awful down there.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All of a sudden, this pile of water which had been pushed in got dumped back out on where we are, and that is our route out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Hurricane Wilma obviously very powerful. It is the latest hurricane in what has been a record storm season in the Atlantic. Wilma is the last of 21 major named storms this year, named using the Roman alphabet. The letters Q,U, X, Y and Z are not used. So the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is now using the Greek alphabet for the first time in six decades of naming Atlantic storms.
Tropical Storm Alpha the first. And there could be, we are told, several more. The hurricane season does not end, of course, until November 30.
More on Hurricane Wilma ahead here. Survival stories in Key West. Some residents there had to swim for their lives. We'll have a live report for you.
And huge coordinated terror explosions in Baghdad. Insurgents today targeting an important city symbol.
And new wage outrage on the Gulf Coast. Emergency medical workers volunteered to save lives during Hurricane Katrina, and the were rewarded with a big pay cut. We'll have that special report and a great deal more still ahead right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Continuing our coverage tonight of Hurricane Wilma, which slammed ashore in Florida tonight in Key West, there is no power, there is major flooding. Some 35 percent of Key West is under water tonight. Many residents there are rethinking their decisions to ride this storm out. Only 10 percent of Key West's 78,000 residents heeded the emergency evacuation orders and left their homes as this hurricane approached.
Kareen Wynter is live with a report in Key West tonight.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, good evening. That's right, that's the response we're getting from city officials here, that they believe more residents would have evacuated had they known Wilma was going to make landfall as a Category 3. You mentioned between 60 to 70 percent of the city was under water. That was during the peak of the storm. Flooded areas three to five feet deep in some spots.
Lou, Key West isn't waiting to dig out after Wilma. In fact, it's been quite active all day.
Residents, also business owners -- business owners along the very busy downtown Duvall Street here in Key West, they've taken out the chainsaws, the rakes, the brooms. They're going to work, taking off the plywood that they put up in anticipation of Wilma.
Now, some places that are not in operation, however, the Key West Airport. That's due to the fact that the runway was flooded. There's also a great amount of debris still there.
Also, the hospital here remains closed. That's a concern for officials who are trying to go to work, in terms of getting that back up in operation. And that's due to the fact that the city is basically without power.
A majority of people here are (INAUDIBLE) for a few days.
DOBBS: We apologize for losing Kareen's audio. Kareen Wynter reporting from Key West. And as you did hear her say and describe the significant damage that Key West went through as a result of this hurricane, and reporting that as many as 70 percent of the residents of Key West chose not to flee the storm in advance.
Tonight, Mexican troops are moving into Cancun, Mexico, after the resort was hit with Hurricane Wilma, and then looting and lawlessness that followed. Hundreds of looters, in fact, have been arrested already. We'll have that story for you.
Mexican President Vicente Fox toured Cancun today amid criticism that Mexican aid is not getting to Cancun fast enough. Fox admitted that relief efforts have been dismal so far. The Mexican president called on his army and the police to set up a command center in Cancun to remove tourists from damaged resorts.
Some 20,000 tourists -- most of them are Americans -- are desperate to leave Cancun as conditions there continued to worsen. There is little food, and many Cancun hotels have simply been destroyed.
Officials hope to start busing tourists out soon, as they remain in shelters. There is some hope, we're told, tonight that the Cancun airport can reopen by tomorrow.
Susan Candiotti on this growing tourist nightmare.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After two days penned up in a shelter, Abby Parhan (ph) and Andre Walker (ph) stretch their legs. But it wasn't on a Cancun beach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just wanted to get some air. You know, we've been in that shelter 48 hours or so.
CANDIOTTI: The vacationers joined hundreds of others in what looked like a roadside procession, miles from their luxury hotels, searching for essentials. Wilma's howling 150-mile-per-hour winds made a lasting impact.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The windows were breaking, we were taping up windows to keep the massive winds and rain -- you know, torrential rains from coming in. You've got babies, you've got children crying. You've got people really getting extremely excited and panicking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was concerned. Mostly concerned about family and friends and the fact that, you know, you never know if you're going to see them again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was -- it was just devastating. It is really unbelievable. You just don't -- I guess you just don't understand something like this until you actually go through it.
CANDIOTTI: At a school transformed into a refuge for tourists, Mexican hotel workers, sheltered alongside the visitors, helped organize assembly lines to deliver supplies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING INAUDIBLE SPANISH).
CANDIOTTI: But in downtown Cancun, lines enveloped city hall for a treasured two bottles of water per person. There is no power either, and streets are flooded or blocked by debris. People managed to get around as best they could.
The Mexican government promised more help as quickly as possible. But for some tourists, that's not enough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just want to be able to get out. And we don't know what's going to happen.
CANDIOTTI: As soon as airports are up and running, tourists will go home. But it may be some time before this popular vacation destination can welcome them back.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Cancun Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: And as we reported, the Cancun airport expected to be open perhaps as early as tomorrow.
Still ahead here, Havana under water. Massive storm surges, harrowing rescues in Cuba after Hurricane Wilma. We'll have the latest for you. Lucia Newman reporting live from Havana. And a dangerous national security breakdown. Millions of foreigners whose U.S. visas have expired are now in this country illegally, and we're doing very little with almost no resources to track them down. We'll tell why you in our special report here, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: In Cuba, Hurricane Wilma sent 45-foot waves crashing over the sea walls protecting Havana. The famous Malecon sea wall could not stop the storm surges flooding the city tonight. Parts of Havana tonight are under six feet of floodwaters. Rescuers are searching for residents who are stranded.
Lucia Newman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): No amount of precautions prepared residents of the capital for this. Avenues and the streets of central and downtown Havana turned into salt water rivers.
Just as it seemed the worst was over, the storm surge began pouring giant waves onto the city. Many residents were sleeping when they realized their low-lying houses and apartments were being inundated.
"It started rising and rising," says this man. "And look, it's full of water."
Row boats and anything else that floats are being used to ferry people to safety.
(on camera): The civil defense teams have been rescuing people since before dawn in boats. It's the only way to get to them. But they still don't know how many more people are still trapped in their houses. And the water continues to rise.
(voice over): Havana residents were caught totally offguard, unlike those who live in fishing towns on the south coast who were evacuated days earlier. Although those towns, too, are now totally flooded. The Cuban military has amphibious vessels on hand, while the civil defense goes from street to street helping people evacuate themselves and, when possible, their valuables.
"I've never seen anything like this before. It's painful," says this man.
Although dozens of hurricanes have hit Cuba in the last few years, this is the worst Havana has seen since what they call the storm of the century in 1993. And with the north winds still blowing strong, the worst is clearly not over.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWMAN: And Lou, as you can see, that north wind is still pounding the old Havana area that you see right behind me. Those big waves still crashing over the Malecon wall.
Now, the rescue operations are still under way. One general we spoke to, Sergio Villas (ph), tells us that there are no injuries or fatalities to report so far, which is good news. But even for Cuba, a country which is seasoned in preparing for hurricanes, this storm has taken everybody by surprise -- Lou.
DOBBS: Lucia, to see those waves crashing over the Malecon like that, that's formidable indeed, because that wall stands up there quite distant. There is an outer wall there at the harbor of Havana as well.
Have you ever seen anything like this?
NEWMAN: You know, we have seen big waves coming over the walls, especially, you know, after a hurricane. But nothing like.
The magnitude of the waves and the distance that the water has covered going inland, up to seven city blocks inward, when there are a lot of people that live in this part of town -- in fact, the whole thing extends for more than 10 miles -- Lou.
DOBBS: Extraordinary. Lucia Newman, thank you. We're glad that you and all of those who reside in Havana are safe tonight as the storm, we hope, ebbs quickly.
Just ahead here, Hurricane Katrina blasting into Florida with winds of 125 miles an hour. Hurricane Wilma matching that. Some parts of the state are under five feet of water tonight. We'll have the latest on the widespread destruction from Hurricane Wilma here next.
And Harriet Miers, you remember her. We'll tell you how President Bush is struggling to build support for his choice to head to the Supreme Court.
And millions of foreigners in this country illegally, not because they crossed our borders illegally, but because their visas have expired. You'll be shocked -- I think you will be shocked to hear just how few immigration officials we have assigned to track down all of those people with expired visas.
That special report is coming up next, and a great deal more.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Hurricane Wilma killed at least three people today as the hurricane swept across Florida with powerful winds and torrential rains. As many as six million people in Florida lost power as the storm brought down power lines.
The hurricane, 400 miles across as it raked the southern Florida peninsula. The eye of the hurricane alone, 60 miles across when it made landfall near Marco Island. The hurricane hit the coast with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles an hour.
Tonight, Wilma is moving along the East Coast at nearly 40 miles an hour. Sustained winds of 120 miles an hour. We'll keep you up to date on this fast-moving hurricane throughout the night here on CNN.
An earlier computer model of Hurricane Wilma projected that it could hit New York. That's no longer expected to happen. But that warning and the overall destruction of this hurricane season has forced New York to reevaluate its hurricane response plan.
Mary Snow has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With more than a month left before hurricane season officially ends, and the latest Wilma is unleashing her wrath, hurricane expert Dr. Nicholas Coch isn't sleeping much these days.
PROF. NICHOLAS K. COCH, QUEENS COLLEGE: Oh, I've been called "Dr. Doom," right? "The Master of Disaster" and all those things.
SNOW: Coch says while others joke about his predictions, he's worried. He's studied hurricanes for nearly 40 years, taught about them, even dissected them to the point where colleagues refer to him as the forensic hurricaneologist. But Coch says history has taught him that a major hurricane hits the Northeast every 90 years. And he's sounding the alarm, saying one is due.
COCH: We don't need a big one. A 3 will bring New York serious trouble. A borderline 4 like 1938 will be a true national disaster.
SNOW: That storm in 1938 was called the Long Island Express, the last major hurricane to hit New York. Named for its speed, it tore through five states. And at bus stops like this one, it serves as a reminder in a campaign to alert the public about the potential for hurricanes.
New York estimates that it would need to evacuate 3.4 million people from this city surrounded by water, and its evacuation plan has recently come under fire by an assemblyman who writes in a state report that there are serious and significant questions about it. The city's office of emergency management calls its plan one of the most robust hurricane plans in the nation that is being improved every day. City officials say lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina have led them to revisit evacuation plans for nursing homes and hospitals. And they are closely monitoring storms like Wilma. And so is Dr. Coch. His worries grow with the frequency of hurricanes.
COCH: Sooner or later our luck is going to run out and a hurricane will hit one of our urban centers directly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Mary Snow reporting from New York. Turning now to the war in Iraq. Almost 2,000 Americans have now lost their lives there. A U.S. marine has been killed by enemy fire in the city of Ramada in al Anbar Province. The death of the marine brings the number of our troops killed in Iraq to 1,998.
In Baghdad today, insurgents launched a bold attack against a hotel housing foreign journalists and contractors. The insurgents first fired rockets at the hotel. And then they exploded a huge truck bomb. And you can see the truck at the right side of the screen there before you exploding.
It appears the security officers on duty left their post to investigate those first two explosions. At least ten people were killed, 22 others wounded. None of the casualties today in those explosions American.
Iraq just one issue that is damaging President Bush's poll numbers, another is his struggle to win Senate support for his Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers. President Bush today declared he will not release government documents about the advice he's received from Miers. The president said that he will not release the papers because to do so would break important confidentiality. Suzanne Malveaux reports from the White House -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Lou, really, this is just one of many political storms in Washington that is brewing for President Bush. Today, he expressed confidence still in Harriet Miers saying he believes she will have a good and fair hearing on Capitol Hill. But he did not answer a reporter's question directly when asked whether or not the White House has a contingency plan should she withdraw her nomination.
Later in the day, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said there is no such plan.
But President Bush was very clear about one point, and that is his refusal to turn over certain White House documents. Her time as White House counsel, saying that he believes it would set a bad precedent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: They've asked for paperwork about the decision-making process. What her recommendations were. And that were breach very important confidentiality. And it's a red line I'm not willing to cross. People can learn about Harriet Miers through hearings. But we are not going to this business about people being able to walk into the Oval Office and say Mr. President, here's my advice to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now Lou, here's a very interesting back story, the political back story to all of this. There are some conservatives who believe that this red line argument, drawing this red line will be a way to pull out of this beleaguered nomination. There are some Republicans who feel if they can push the Bush administration, push the White House on getting those documents to them, and the White House refuses to do so, they can say, well, we have irreconcilable differences, therefore there is no headway that is going to be made, and that her nomination would be withdrawn.
I spoke to one Republican insider -- White House insider who says if that is their thinking it is wishful thinking on the parts of the conservatives. That the White House has no intention to withdraw her nomination nor to push her to do so, Lou?
DOBBS: The White House may not have such a plan in place at this point, but Senator Arlen Specter the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says point-blank, Harriet Miers has neither the votes on the Republican nor the Democratic side to move ahead at this time. What is the White House posture on the fact that with their relaunch last week of this nomination that they're still coming up woefully short?
MALVEAUX: Well Lou, I spoke with one Republican insider, one who is involved in this process in moving Harriet Miers forward. And obviously, they admit it is a struggle this evening. They still believe.
They're going to watch to see how things unfold. How they play out this week, whether or not they continue to lose support when it comes to Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee. But at this moment, they still believe they can get her to that hearing.
DOBBS: It is a week or two week period, certainly, in which most expect this White House to go through one of its most dismal periods. We will likely regrettably, unfortunately and tragically likely reach 2,000 American deaths in Iraq. The Harriet Miers nomination is certainly in jeopardy. The special counsel likely to come forth with its indictments -- is now generally expected based on source near the special counsel. What is the White House doing differently now to react to what is obviously a terrible political period for this presidency?
MALVEAUX: What the White House is doing is they say they're moving forward business as usual. But they are also listening, Lou, to critical voices, Republican insiders who are giving advice on strategy. A lot of those people saying they believe this White House needs to move very quickly if their indictments. That people who are indicted need to get out of office very fast. They need to be replaced by people. They need to distance themselves from the president. And that the president needs to move forward with a positive and aggressive agenda, a message to the American people saying yes, we can still govern.
DOBBS: Suzanne Malveaux, thank you very much, reporting from the White House. Well, the White House move swiftly to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan today. The president nominating Ben Bernanke to replace Greenspan, when Greenspan retires in January.
Bernanke is the chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers. Before that, a governor of the Federal Reserve. He was seen as the leading candidate at the post. Alan Greenspan is stepping down after 18 years as this nation's top central banker. If Bernanke is confirmed by congress, he replaces a man who many regard as one of the most effective fed chairman in our history.
Also in Washington today, a stunning report from the Department of Homeland Security. 3,600,000 foreigners are in this country illegally not because they crossed our borders illegally, but because their visas have expired. That's roughly the entire population of the city of Los Angeles.
At time of the report, there were just 51, that's right, just 51 inspectors charged with the responsibility of going after those almost four million foreigners who have overstayed their visas. By the way, those 51 inspectors would be roughly the size of an NFL football team in Los Angeles if Los Angeles had a team.
What the report means that there is virtually zero chance that any of those illegal aliens will be caught. Christine Romans has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Visa holders who overstay exit date in this country can easily disappear into American life with little risk from immigration authorities. A report from the Homeland Security inspector general estimates at least 3.6 million illegal aliens are people here who overstayed their visas. Yet last year, there were only 51 agents dedicated to tracking visa violators.
REP. J.D. HAYWORTH, (R) ARIZONA: If there are so-called good people overstaying their visas, there are really bad people too. And more than just your garden variety of criminal, probably in that group, sad to say, are those folks who belong to terrorist cells who mean to do us harm.
ROMANS: Immigration and Customs Enforcement received more than 300,000 leads last year on visa violators. The inspector general found authorities investigated just over 4,000 and apprehended only 671.
The report found, quote, "efforts to identify visa violators and overstays results in few apprehensions. And actual removal of visa violators is minuscule." ICE counters that it's numbers are slightly higher. It says its apprehended 1400 visa violators and thousands of additional investigations are under way.
Still, the inspector general found investigations, when they occur, can take up to two months because of vague performance measures and inefficiency in the work flow process. Work flow in the two-year- old agency that looks like this.
The report finds "these delays allow visa violators to avoid apprehension and disappear into the U.S. population."
ICE defends its compliance enforcement unit by saying it was created only after September 11 to target national security threats.
Quote, "there are millions of leads, where do you start? With a dishwasher or with someone with a HAZMAT license and access to a port?"
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: ICE says the unit has apprehended a fuel truck driver with a HAZMAT license and a member of a terrorist organization and wanted sex offenders. ICE says, at the time of the inspector general's report last year, the agency was funded for only 50 positions to track down the high risk visa violators. Today there are more than 230 personnel in that unit.
And, ICE says, contrary to the inspector general's report, this unit is not the only one arresting visa violators, they say any immigration agent can. But keep in mind, there are at least 3.6 million people in this country who overstayed their visa a couple of hundred, a couple of thousand agents, you're not going to do much good on that.
DOBBS: Our federal employees do a magnificent job, but to ask 51 or 70 or 200 and some odd men and women to go after 3.6 million illegal aliens who have overstayed their visa, the visa that have expired, that absurdity even by federal government standards.
ROMANS: And Congressman J.D. Hayworth pointed out, it's public policy triage that they have to just go after the high risk individuals, because there are simply so many, there's no way humanly possible, you could be effective at that job. That's what Congressman Hayworth said. But he also points out that you don't know who is a public -- who is a risk. You just don't know, with 301,000 leads just for this one unit last year, any one of those could have been a risk.
DOBBS: So we're at a situation now where the federal government, not the State Department, not Homeland Security, not any department knows where those 3.6 million people are. They don't know where the database leads them. They don't know which database they're in, nor how to track them, and we only have fewer than 300 people at least to go after 3.6 million people.
ROMANS: In some cases, these are just closed because they don't have an address on record for some of these people, according to the inspector general.
DOBBS: And it takes how long to grant a visa and how long to run down one of these so-called overstays -- I love that word, overstay.
ROMANS: It takes about 30 minutes to grant a legal permanent residency, a green card. It takes about two months to investigate whether somebody overstayed, if there is an investigation.
DOBBS: We won't do the extrapolation on two months for each of 3.6 million violators, but that is remarkable. This is a government that's out of control, an immigration policy that doesn't exist. And one of the most, I think, criminally negligent attitudes on the part of this administration toward national security. This is nothing more than a raw and bad joke on the American people.
ROMANS: Can you imagine if you're one of these people out there and it's your job to track these people down? And you just, you know.
DOBBS: It's insufferable. The position we're putting them in, and the position we're putting the lives and the well-being of Americans in. It shouldn't be tolerated, but that it goes on is abysmal. Christine Romans, as always, thank you.
That brings us to the topic of our poll tonight -- do you believe the Department of Homeland Security should immediately learn the identity and location of those whose visas have expired, to assure our national security? Vote yes or no, cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll have the results coming up here in just a matter of moments.
Still ahead, an outrageous report from the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast. The emergency medical workers who saw their pay slash almost in half even as they were saving lives after Hurricane Katrina.
And the battle over Gulf Coast workers and reconstruction is now hitting Capitol Hill. I'll be talking with a congressman who is trying to have the Davis-Bacon waiver, the waiver by President Bush, reinstated.
And a great deal more, coming right up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Tonight, new worker outrage on the Gulf Coast. Emergency medical workers who hail from Ohio, who risked their lives during the Hurricane Katrina disaster, say that they were rewarded by having their pay cut in half, and they want that pay back. And they're ready to take the fight all the way to Washington, D.C. Lisa Sylvester reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE KUNKEL, PARAMEDIC: I got bills.
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joe Kunkel is a paramedic in Akron, Ohio. When Hurricane Katrina hit, he and 15 others from his union traveled to New Orleans to save lives while dodging hazards from snakes to sniper fire.
And how were they rewarded by their company? They say with a 37 percent hourly pay cut.
KUNKEL: It's pretty much derogatory from our standpoint, for the guys that are doing the job. You know, we go down for two weeks at a time on a minimum deployment, expecting, you know, to at least be paid our compensated wage for our collective bargaining agreement.
SYLVESTER: Under that agreement, American Medical Response or AMR pays a paramedic with five years' experience $14.17 an hour. But AMR, under a 24-hour schedule, slashed wages for relief workers, offering only $8.83 an hour. A one-year paramedic made only $7.31 an hour, a little more than a fast food worker would earn.
At the same time, federal records show AMR raked in $8 million in FEMA contracts. AMR declined to do an interview, but in a statement said: "Under the AMR pay plan, the weekly wages employees earn during their deployment were equal to or greater than their scheduled weekly wages at their home location.
DAVID HOLWAY, PRESIDENT, IAEP: If you take a look at the amount of hours these people were working, they should have received a lot more in salary, in benefits for that period of time. So the company, AMR pulled a bait and switch.
SYLVESTER: Ohio Congressman Steve LaTourette wants Congress to look at this contract and others awarded by FEMA.
REP. STEVE LATOURETTE (R), OHIO: You think the danger that we had in the Gulf Coast in general is profiteering. When you have these large contracts, it appears you can pay people whatever you want to pay, and it looks like the rest of the money goes into the profit column of the corporation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: The union accuses AMR of violating the Federal Service Contract Act of 1965 that ensures service employees a prevailing wage, and in Louisiana for paramedics that's at least $13 an hour. According to records obtained by the union, the company was being paid by the federal government $115,000 a month, but paying only $25,000 a month in salaries -- Lou.
DOBBS: And there's no straight line budgeting for per hour employee on that contract?
SYLVESTER: No, there isn't. It's one of the things that you have to look very carefully at the hourly wage versus the weekly wage. The company says, hey, if the weekly wages were the same as what you made, but these folks were making so many more hours, and they say their hourly wage should have been higher.
DOBBS: And of course, under the waiver of the Davis-Bacon Act, prevailing wages are not even relevant here, thanks to the president's waiver.
Congress is now set to vote as early as this week on a measure that would reinstate the Davis-Bacon Act on the Gulf Coast and force employers to pay the prevailing wage. Congressman George Miller of California is leading the fight to overturn President Bush's suspension of Davis-Bacon. He joins us tonight from Washington. Can you get your measure through Congress, a Congress run by Republicans?
REP. GEORGE MILLER (D), CALIFORNIA: I think we can. I think we found a way in which we can present this to the Congress. We have strong bipartisan majority in favor of overturning what the president has done. We lost in the Education Committee last week on a party line vote. There will be another vote I believe in the Transportation Committee maybe later this week, and then on November 4th, we have a right, the parliamentarians in the Congress have told us we have a right to an up-or-down vote on the floor of the Congress, and I think at that time, the bipartisan majority that we have will speak to this, and we will overturn in the House what the president has done to undermine the wages of workers in the Gulf Coast area.
DOBBS: At the point of which the federal government is giving cost-plus contracts, no-bid contracts out to the tune of billions of dollars, what sense in the world does it make to you, Congressman Miller, that this administration would be motivated to deny prevailing wages to workers in construction of the Gulf Coast?
MILLER: Well, they just caved in to a group of right-wing ideologues that hate this law. They've hated it for the 30 years I've been in Congress. And the insult to the taxpayers and the insult to the workers was that at the same time, they were handing out no-bid contracts, which led to the abuses that you just had on the previous story, that Congressman LaTourette was calling attention to. That the contract awarded had nothing to do with the cost of labor and the benefits just flow to the bottom line of Halliburton and Shaw Industries and these others that immediately got no-bid contracts, and the workers had no protection for the wages that they would be employed at.
DOBBS: Congressman George Miller, a good friend of working men and women in this country, we thank you for being here. And as you referred to Lisa Sylvester's story, Congressman, I'm sad to tell you, you ain't seen nothing yet, as the saying goes, from Louisiana. We'll be talking to Senator Mary Landrieu about the same issue with some remarkable people who were caught up in the same issue, Davis-Bacon.
We thank you very much, Congressman Miller. We appreciate it.
MILLER: Thank you.
DOBBS: Coming up next here, more on the wage outrage in the Gulf. The two electricians who say they were hired to train their lower-paid, non-English-speaking replacements will be back with us, and they're back here with their senator, Senator Mary Landrieu, who spoke less than two hours ago on the Senate floor about stopping contractors from hiring illegal aliens to rebuild the Gulf Coast. It's something less, as you might expect, than a prevailing wage. Stay with us for that and a great deal more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Just minutes ago on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana blasted American contractors who are hiring illegal aliens to help rebuild the Gulf Coast. Senator Landrieu demanded that American workers be hired for those jobs and at the prevailing wage, despite the president's waiver of Davis-Bacon.
Just last week, illegal aliens were found working at the Belle Chasse Naval air station in Louisiana, after higher-paid American workers were fired.
Senator Landrieu joins us now from Capitol Hill. Also joining us again, two of her constituents, Al Knight and Mack Moran, who were hired to supply electricians to rebuild Belle Chasse, but they claim after three weeks of training low-paid, non-English-speaking workers, they were fired. Thank you all for being here. It is good to see you again, Al and Mike, and Senator Landrieu. Your protest on the floor of the Senate, do you think you're going to be able to make headway here?
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: Well, Lou, I hope so. And thanks to programs like yours, the American people are really understanding or learning about a story that I don't think they can quite fathom. And that is that right here in America, on a U.S. military base, these workers, who were skilled and were asked to come to rebuild their own neighborhood, workers who had actually lost their home, were then ushered off the military base so that undocumented workers could take their place.
I mean, Lou, we need jobs in the Gulf Coast. We need jobs in Louisiana. We have people that want to work, that are skilled to work, that want to rebuild their homes and their neighborhoods, and under the current policies, they're actually being prevented from doing so. It is an outrage.
DOBBS: Senator, you wrote Michael Chertoff, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, saying in part that you received compelling evidence that immigration laws are being flagrantly disregarded. In point of fact, this administration waived documentation requirements for hiring. And Al Knight, Mike Moran, as you both know, those requirements put aside and prevailing wage was put aside. Where do you stand with the contractor, a subsidiary of Halliburton, BE&K, and your deal with them? The senator has taken up your cause here. Has it resulted in anything, Al?
AL KNIGHT, KNIGHT ENTERPRISES: No, sir. We still remain out of work, and we're still out of work today. There's 75 guys that lost their jobs to those out-of-state illegal workers. Still don't have a job today. Some of them have gone back to work, but I still receive unemployment documents from the Department of Labor every day at my mail, through a reduction of force.
DOBBS: Mike, Al, at no point during the last -- this is a statement from BE&K's -- from BE&K, referring to you all. Quote: "At no point during the last several weeks, did we ever replace workers from Louisiana with workers who were paid less. We released Knight Enterprises only when its work was substantially done. BE&K is eager to get the facts."
So are we. Mike, Al, Senator, what are the facts?
LANDRIEU: Well, Mike, you go ahead and answer, since you were the one that they asked to leave.
DOBBS: Mike Moran?
MIKE MORAN, GENERAL FOREMAN: Lou, yes, Lou, we were -- we were told that the job was substantially complete after being told it was a 20-month job. All we worked was 20 days. I don't see how anyone could...
DOBBS: And the people you worked with, the people you trained, you said they were non-English-speaking. Do you have any reason to think that they were illegal aliens?
MORAN: I have no way to verify it either way. Lou, but we weren't hired to train them. What they did is go and look at our work and try to duplicate it, which they were not successful at doing.
DOBBS: Senator Landrieu, the issue here, you said you had proof that they're hiring illegal aliens. We do know that there is a federal investigation on this case and others down there. What is your expectation?
LANDRIEU: Well, Lou, first of all, there are many good contractors, as you know, and many good business people in Louisiana trying to rebuild our state. But the issue is, we have federal policies that are actually encouraging the hiring of out-of-state workers, in some cases undocumented workers, to take the place of Americans right there in Louisiana and Mississippi, that are ready to rebuild their neighborhoods. And in this case, it happened to be this dastardly deed done on an American military base, which makes it even worse.
The American taxpayers don't understand this, so, Lou, we're going to get to the bottom of it. We're asking for an investigation. But our American workers deserve better, and they want to work, and I think that we can get to the bottom of this and hopefully stop this practice.
DOBBS: Senator Landrieu, we thank you. We join you, as I know Mike Moran and Al Knight do, in your wish. We thank you, Al and Mike. It is good to talk with you again as we try to learn more about what's going on down there. And hopefully, we will see justice done.
KNIGHT: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: Thanks to the efforts in part of Senator Landrieu and your own stalwart advocacy, gentlemen. Thank you very much.
LANDRIEU: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: And that of Congressman George Miller as well on the House side.
Still ahead here, the results of our poll tonight. And we'll have a preview of what's coming up here tomorrow. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The results of our poll tonight overwhelming. Ninety- seven percent of you say Homeland Security should immediately learn the identity and location of those whose visas have expired to assure national security.
Thanks for being with us tonight. Please join us here tomorrow. Good night from New York. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" starting right now.
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