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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Florida Congressman Resigns; Senate on Brink of Approving Border Fence
Aired September 29, 2006 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, CNN HOST: Wolf, thank you.
Tonight, a political bombshell less than six weeks before the midterm elections. A leading congressman has suddenly resigned after questions about e-mails he sent to a 16 year old boy. We'll have that live report from Capitol Hill.
And the Senate tonight is on the brink of approving a 700 mile border fence along our 2,000 mile long border with Mexico. But don't think the Senate has abandoned amnesty. We'll have this special report and a great deal more here tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT. News, debate and opinion for Friday, September 29th. Live in New York, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everybody. A six-term Republican congressman, Mark Foley today abruptly resigned from Congress. Congressman Mark Foley stepped down after reports he may have sent inappropriate e-mails to a 16-year-old boy.
Congressman Foley said he said he let down his family and people of Florida. The congressman resignation comes as President Bush and Democrats escalated their battle over the president's conduct of the war on terror.
President Bush today accusing his critics today of buying into the enemy's propaganda. The Democrats say the president is in denial. Andrea Koppel reports from Capitol Hill on Congressman Foley's sudden resignation. Kathleen Koch reports from the white house on the escalating battle between Republicans and Democrats over the issue of national security. And Arwa Damon reports from Baghdad on reports of the Iraqi government's biggest security operation so far.
We begin with Andrea Koppel. Andrea?
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, this bombshell dropped right in the middle of what was supposed to be the last day that Congress is in session and comes just one day after a report which alleged that Congressman Foley exchanged e-mails with a 16-year-old former congressional page.
According to a source close to Foley's office, there were five of these exchanges between Foley and this teenager in the summer of 2005. A spokesman for Foley flatly denied that the exchange was anything inappropriate. In a statement issued this afternoon by the congressman's office, he said - "Today I have delivered a letter to the speaker of the House informing him of my decision to resign from the U.S. House of Representatives effective today. I thank the people of Florida's 16th congressional district for giving me the opportunity to serve them for the last 12 years. It has been an honor. I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent."
Now, sources close to the six-term Florida congressman, a Republican, tell CNN that there were other e-mail exchanges between Congressman Foley and other pages that were more, quote, "graphic" and of a, quote, "damaging nature." On a day Republicans would have rather been touting their legislative successes, instead House Republican leaders were forced to respond to this shocking development.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DENNIS HASTERT, (R-IL) HOUSE SPEAKER: He has to resign to the governor of the state of Florida. He sent that letter. And we have an attached copy and we've laid it down and for all practical purposes he's resigned from the House as of now. He's done the right thing. I have asked John Shimkus (ph), who is the head of the page board, to look into this issue regarding Congressman Foley. We want to make sure that all our pages are safe and the page system is safe."
QUESTION: How disturbing is this?
HASTERT: None of us are very happy about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Now, on the congressman's Web site, it says in addition to his appointment to the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, he is co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus.
Lou, as you know, his resignation comes less than six weeks before congressional elections in which Republicans, many analysts say, stand perhaps to lose their control of the House. Under Florida law, even though Congressman Foley has resigned, his name must remain on the ballot and the Republican Party in Florida must decide who they would want to fill the position should Congressman Foley win, even though he has resigned, Lou.
DOBBS: A disgusting story. Thank you very much. Andrea Koppel.
Congress and the White House also focusing on national security issues today. President Bush today strongly defended his conduct of the war on terrorism and against radical Islamists. The president declared, quote, "You do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism."
Democrats immediately answered back, saying the president's policies have increased the terrorist threat to the United States. Kathleen Koch reports from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Support moderates, fight extremists, the rallying cry in President Bush's latest speech on the war on terror. The president used Afghanistan as an example of how building new democracies takes time and commitment. There was a clear reference to the difficulties the U.S. is facing in Iraq. But the president only directly mentioned Iraq when taking issue with the assessment of the recently released national intelligence assessment, that the war there is fueling terrorism worldwide.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iraq is not the reason terrorists are at war against us. They're at war against us because they hate everything America stands for.
KOCH: The president did not respond to the criticisms on the Iraq War in a new book by Bob Woodward. "State of Denial" portrays an administration plagued with infighting and a president unwilling to heed early calls for more troops.
T. SNOW: In a lot of ways, the book sort of like is cotton candy. It kind of melts on contact.
KOCH: Democrats were quick to say the book, like the NIE, is more proof a failed policy in Iraq.
HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIR: You can't fight a war if you ignore the military. The president has never listened to the military.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) MINORITY LEADER: He has a tin ear. He won't accept the facts and tell the truth to the American people.
KOCH: One political analyst warns the piling on effect of bad news on Iraq could chip away at the poll gains the president has made since beginning his series of speeches on his strong suit, national security and the war on terror.
STU ROTHENBERG, ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT: Even if the president would like to have the discussion be generally about terrorists and the bad guys and what we're doing, there seems to always be another bit of breaking news that contradicts him and makes his policy look in an unfavorable light.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH (on camera): So while the White House downplays the Woodward book, it does raise doubt about the administration's conduct of an already unpopular war, certainly not the kind of thing the White House likes to see just five weeks before midterm elections. Lou?
DOBBS: Kathleen Koch, thank you. Kathleen Koch reporting from the White House.
In Baghdad tonight the Iraqi government announced the biggest security operation so far. The crackdown, the latest effort to stop insurgent attacks and sectarian violence from spiraling into all-out civil war. Arwa Damon reports now from Baghdad. Arwa?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Lou. And this latest announcement, which is a curfew that began at 11:00 p.m. on Friday and is set to last until 6:00 a.m. on Sunday is both a vehicle and pedestrian curfew. This is something that is not very common in the capital Baghdad. Now some 7 million people that live in the Baghdad are to remain indoors. The exact reasons behind this are at this point unclear. The U.S. military says they're in the dark. They learned of it from the local media.
A senior Sunni politician says his Iraqi security forces are not disclosing any information. The Iraq emergency police, well aware of the curfew, but they, too, do not know the reasons why.
Now, what we do know is clashes have erupted in at least three Baghdad neighborhoods. Is this the reason behind this sudden imposition of a curfew? That, too, still to be determined.
But definitely if Iraqis were not watching television late at night tonight, they're going to be waking up tomorrow to a city that is virtually shut down, Lou.
DOBBS: Arwa, thank you very much. Arwa Damon reporting from Baghdad tonight under curfew, the strictest so far in the entire period of occupation.
A senior U.S. military commander in al Anbar province today said the insurgency probably won't be defeated until American troops leave Iraq. Colonel Sean McFarland, commander of U.S. forces in Ramadi says his mission is to cut the level of violence to a manageable level so Iraqi forces can take over.
U.S. marines and soldiers from the First Armored Division have been engaged in fierce fighting with insurgents and terrorists in Ramadi. Colonel McFarland says the number of attacks on his troop has recently declined from 20 a day to 15.
Democrats have made President Bush's record and the conduct in the war of Iraq one of central issues of their mid term campaign. Democratic leaders are increasingly optimistic they can win control of the House of Representatives but they face a much tougher battle in the Senate. Bill Schneider reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN ANALYST (voice-over): Democrats are cautiously optimistic about regaining the majority in the House of Representatives and increasingly hopeful of winning control of the Senate. Right now, CNN estimates that 22 House seats could change parties, all in the same direction.
ROTHENBERG: If you look at the most vulnerable 15, 20, 25 congressional districts in the country that are most competitive, that could turn, each and every one is Republican. SCHNEIDER: Democrats need a net gain of 15 seats to gain a majority in the House. Fifteen out of 22 sounds tough but it looks increasingly doable. Republicans are in serious trouble in the suburbs. Homeland of moderate voters like the New York suburbs of Connecticut, the Philadelphia suburbs and the suburbs of Denver and Tucson. The Senate looks tougher for Democrats.
ROTHENBERG: I think the Republicans are still narrow favorites to hold the Senate, but there's been a fundamental shift in the way I think I -- in the way I view the race and most handicappers view it.
SCHNEIDER: Right now seven Republican Senate seats are at risk. The democrats need to win six of the seven seats to control the Senate. That's tough.
Five of those seven states voted to reelect President Bush in 2004. That's tougher. Democrats cannot afford to lose the one Senate seat they hold that may be in trouble, New Jersey. They say a week is a long time in politics.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (on camera): It certainly is, Lou. Look at what happened in one day. Another House seat, a republican seat in Florida, Congressman Foley's seat just got listed -- added to the list of endangered seats. You know, the Republican Congress is leaving town tonight. The question is, will a Republican Congress be coming back? The odds seem to be getting longer. Lou?
DOBBS: As you suggest, Bill, Congressman -- ex-Congressman Foley's seat obviously was to be -- looks like the Democrats would have a very significant advantage there. You mentioned Senator Menendez in New Jersey who looked like an odds-on favorite. There's just one more charge and continuing charge of corruption on the part of that senator. He's in real trouble, isn't he?
SCHNEIDER: He certainly is. Not only are there allegations of corruption surrounding him, but he has a formidable opponent mostly because of the opponent's name. Tom Kean Jr. And when I was in New Jersey, an analyst at Rutgers University told me there are two icons in New Jersey. One is Bruce Springsteen and the other is the name Tom Kean.
DOBBS: And one of those isn't on a ballot. Thanks very much, Bill Schneider.
SCHNEIDER: That's right.
DOBBS: Still ahead the Senate tonight is on the verge of approving a 700 mile long border fence. But will that fence really be built? We'll have the special report.
And the Bush administration wants a North American union. The United States, Mexico and Canada, one entity. Is anyone in Washington looking after the U.S. national interest? We'll find out. And as members of Congress leave Washington for their election campaigns, three of the country's very best political analysts join me to assess what in the world is going on in Congress, what's likely to happen at the polls. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The Senate tonight finally moving toward approval of a 700 mile border fence for that 2000 mile long border with Mexico. Senate border fence supporters face fierce resistance from the illegal alien amnesty lobby on Capitol Hill and certainly they face stiff resistance from the government of Mexico.
Bill Tucker tonight reports on today's border fence debate and why so-called comprehensive immigration reform is still alive. Maybe just barely, but still alive on Capitol Hill.
And Lisa Sylvester reports on the government of Mexico's continued insistence on interfering in the national security of the United States. We begin with Bill Tucker.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the final hours before Congress goes into recess before the midterm elections, the Senate finally took up the issue of the fence along the border with Mexico.
SEN. TED KENNEDY, (D) MA: Never mind that fences don't work. Undocumented immigrant entries have increased tenfold since the strategy of fencing was introduced in the mid 1990s.
TUCKER: The fencing that Senator Kennedy is referring to looks like this. The fence to be constructed looks like this recently completed section just south of San Diego where proponents say they do work.
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, (R) AL: The San Diego fence has been incredibly successful. The illegal entries have fallen from 500,000 to 100,000. Crime in San Diego County -- the whole county dropped 56 percent.
TUCKER: The exact placement of the fence is yet to be finalized. The proposed areas have the heaviest illegal crossings. It would only cover about 700 miles of the 2,000 mile border. There was discussion in the Senate about attaching the ag jobs section to the bill. Those efforts failed.
SEN. LARRY CRAIG, (R) ID: There is now a very real disconnect occurring, a disconnect between the security of the border which is critical and necessary and a legal process by which those workers can move through that secured border.
TUCKER: That bill was strongly opposed in the House, which would have meant certain defeat. ROSEMARY JENKS, NUMBERSUSA: Congress, in order to go back home and face the November elections, they have to show the American people that they're willing to do something. This is an easy one. This is a gimme.
TUCKER: The vote is currently scheduled for 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER (on camera): Now, do not assume that a fence means an end to efforts at so-called comprehensive immigration reform. Some observers suggest that attempts at doubling the H1B program and expanding other guest worker programs, Lou, will be taken up in the session after the election in November perhaps attached to an omnibus spending bill.
DOBBS: I don't think there's any doubt the Senate will try to do that. And I don't think there's any doubt in the world that they will hear from their constituents during these midterm elections, I'll make a forecast that they are going to hear loud and clear on border security. And if they continue, they being the Republicans, to play games and if the Democrats keep advocating amnesty instead of security and taking control of our borders, they're going to hear a very loud and convincing reaction from the voters.
The fact that they want to play games here still with national security is contemptible. Bill Tucker, thank you very much.
If the Senate does succeed in passing that border fence legislation, one of the biggest losers may be the government of Mexico. Mexico has tried to derail construction of that border fence for literally months. Tonight, the government of Mexico is intensifying its efforts to meddle in the national security affairs of this nation and doing so with a sense of entitlement that is breathtaking. Lisa Sylvester reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mexico's foreign relations office is warning the U.S. Congress not to approve a border fence, predicting that it will harm bilateral relations.
Mexico has been vigorously working to defeat border enforcement measures, shelling out more than $1.7 million to win friends on Capitol Hill and sway public opinion according to records filed with the Department of Justice Foreign Agents Registration Office.
Mexico's lobbying extends well beyond public diplomacy.
MARK KRIKORIAN, CENTER FOR AMERICAN STUDIES: Mexico is participating in American politics in a way that no country has ever really done in another country.
SYLVESTER: The Mexican consulate has retained Allyn and Company, a subsidiary of advertising and lobbying giant Fleishman Hiller (ph) for $60,000 a month. Documents show the P.R. firm promised to build on its "extensive experience with key decision makers in the Bush administration, Congress and border states to improve public opinion about Mexico, conduct road shows, pitch and organize trips for key journalists to Mexico to help win a positive appraisal of Mexico's success and brainstorming and testing key messages with focus groups."
REP. ED ROYCE, (R) CA: We've seen people lobby up here on Capitol Hill with the Mexican government and see it all the time in orchestrated demonstrations where a role is played also by the Mexican government.
SYLVESTER: Even as Mexico meddles in U.S. politics, President Vicente Fox's office chastised secretary of state Condoleezza Rice this week for comments she made on Mexico's political system. Mexico's constitution explicitly bars foreigners from involvement in Mexico's political affairs. But the same standard does not apply to Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER (on camera): And the Mexican consulate did not return our calls. Now, there are some Mexican officials, including Mexico's central bank governor, who say rather than encouraging illegal immigration to the United States, the new Mexican President Felipe Calderon should focus on living conditions in Mexico where half of the people there are living in poverty.
Lou?
DOBBS: The central bank governor you refer to, Guillermo Artiz (ph) a distinguished economist, public servant of the government Mexico, serving both parties, in point of fact, saying something that these apologists don't have the guts, the courage to say.
And that is that Mexico is the wealthiest nation in Central and South America, yet half of their people live in abject poverty. And this president, this Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, will not place responsibility for those people at the feet of those who are responsible. That is, the government of Mexico. It is absolutely disgusting.
And the fact that this president, in charge of this nation, will not out of hand reject those comments from the government of Mexico speaks volumes as to his thinking and his values. And it's just remarkable.
SYLVESTER: And, Lou, you know, for once, as a change, that perhaps instead of Mexico spending that $1.7 million on lobbying, perhaps that money would be better spent back in Mexico improving living condition for the people there.
DOBBS: Absolutely. Lisa, thank you very much. Lisa Sylvester reporting tonight from Washington.
Still ahead here, we continue our series reports on the so-called United States of North America. The North American Union. Something that President Bush apparently wants with or without legitimacy or authorization or public approval and certainly not that of Congress. Congress, by the way, is looking the other way. We're not. We'll have that story next.
And Republican Congressman Mark Foley brought down by scandal. Will that sex scandal help Democrats take control of the House? Three of the country's most distinguished political analysts join me here.
And it's not just Mexico lobbying against the border fence tonight. We'll report on another special interest group with a few thoughts on this issue. You won't be entirely surprised. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The government of Mexico has a new ally in its fight to block that new border fence with Mexico, none other than some of this nation's very own rather liberal environmentalists. Environmentalists tonight are sounding the alarm on the harm that a border fence might pose to the environment.
They say the fence would interfere with the migration routes of rare birds such as the gray hawk and the Mexican hummingbird. They say it would prevent wild turkeys, bats and even road runners from migrating across the border and they say it would destroy migratory routes for jaguars. Those environmentalists say that if the fence were built the nation would, quote, "say good-bye to the future of jaguars in the United States."
This is not the first time environmentalists have tried to stop the building of a border fence, with some encouragement from forces that might be more familiar to you.
Those environmentalists fought and ultimately failed to stop construction of this 14 mile border fence now being built in southern California. But you won't hear a word from our nation's environmentalists about this, the millions of tons of trash that illegal aliens, millions of them crossing that border every year and many of them dumping principally in the Arizona high desert that is harming that wonderful, wonderful high desert and one of the most important environments of the country.
Congressman Duncan Hunter, a strong advocate and proponent of that border fence says border fences actually help the environment by stopping that traffic and illegal aliens who are destroying desert wildlife, fauna and animal life alike.
A clean Arizona desert is something even the Mexican hummingbird just might be willing to sing about.
Time now for a few of your thoughts. From Patrick in Dallas, "Dear Lou. I disagree with you when you say that illegal aliens - I won't call them immigrants - have no rights in this country. They have the right to be arrested, fingerprinted and deported."
On the debate over a border fence, from Joe in Florida, "Lou, I wonder if the Saudis need permission from Iraq to build a fence across their northern border?" As the Senate would like to seek permission from the Mexican government before building that fence.
From Marlene in Pennsylvania, "Why should we be surprised that President Fox or Calderon would be angry that we want to put up a fence. Their people come here, make money, take it back and spend it there. Sounds reasonable to me. I'd be angry, too."
Send us your thoughts at loudobbs.com. More of your thoughts upcoming here.
Next, a Republican congressman resigns in disgrace. This new scandal, could it help Democrats retake power in the House? Three of the country's best political analysts join us here.
And whose America is it anyway. We continue our series of special reports on something that some like to call the North American Union. Others call it a simple dangerous attack on this nation's sovereignty led by the Bush administration.
And new violence today in our schools. A high school principal shot by one of his students in Wisconsin. We'll have the latest on that story and a great deal more. Still ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: A massive manhunt in Lakeland, Florida has ended. A S.W.A.T. team today fatally shot the man who was suspected of killing a sheriff's deputy yesterday. The suspect had covered himself with brush under a fallen oak tree just 75 yards from the spot at which he killed that deputy. Officers ordered the suspect to show his hands and he made only one hand visible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF GRADY JUDD, POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA: We'll be the judge and the jury this time. S.W.A.T. team members, and I don't have their identifications or which agency they're from, found the suspect while they were walking shoulder to shoulder through the thickest brush you can imagine in the state of Florida. We saw the gun. We started shooting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Hundreds of police used night vision scopes and tracking dogs throughout the night, searching for that suspect, whose identity still has not been released.
Another school shooting today, this one in rural Wisconsin. A 15-year-old student this morning walked into his school with a shotgun. The gun was grabbed by the school janitor, but the boy then took a pistol out of his pants and shot the principal three times. The principal has been obviously critically wounded, that shooting taking place just two days after a man in Colorado took six students hostage before killing one of the students and ultimately himself. That massive wildfire in southern California now 60 percent contained. Officials say the fire could be extinguished perhaps by Monday evening. The fire, that has been burning since Labor Day, has charred more than 160,000 acres of wilderness in the Los Padres National Forest. Several barns, trailers destroyed by the fire earlier in the week. But homes, such as this one, have been spared.
Federal regulators today ordered banks to fully disclose the risk of interest only and other non-traditional mortgages. Interest only mortgages allow the borrower to trade low initial payments for high payments later. The problem is, of course, many borrowers cannot afford those higher payments as interest rates rise and that is creating great concern in the banking industry tonight.
Congress continues to debate a bill that would boost security at this nation's vulnerable seaports. House/Senate negotiators agreed last night to spend almost $3.5 billion for improved port security. As part of the bill ports handling 98 percent of all cargo entering this country would be forced to install radiation detectors by the end of this year.
Tonight, the leaders of Mexico, Canada and the United States have been working to create a so-called North American Union. And they've done so rather stealthily. They're trying to speed the flow of both cargo and people, they say, across this nation's northern and southern borders. Critics call the plan an outright attack on our sovereignty. Congress has been looking the other way. Christine Romans reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Plans for an integrated North American community by 2010, moving ahead swiftly and under the radar. Robert Pastor is an author of the Council on Foreign Relations document, seen as the project's road map.
ROBERT PASTOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: We need to deepen economic integration by moving towards a customs union, with a common external tariff. I think we need to enhance our security by beefing up both our borders and beefing up a continental boundary.
ROMANS: But critics fear an attack on American sovereignty, a super NAFTA with borders erased between three very different countries, with no public oversight. Texas Congressman Ron Paul is a rare voice of concern on Capitol Hill.
REP. RON PAUL (R), TEXAS: We're not supposed to give this to the executive branch, devising a quasi type of trees that the Congress seems not to have any control of. Then it turns out to be managed trade for big corporations and not benefit to our workers and to our people.
ROMANS: The House International Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have not held hearings on this and a high level conference this month in Bamf (ph) was closed to the press. Critics raise concerns about secrecy, but the plan has a website, SPP.gov, highlighting myths and facts. Without explaining how, it says the Canadian, Mexican, U.S. partnership does not attempt to modify our sovereignty or currency, nor undermines the U.S. constitution, but would create jobs by reducing transaction costs and unnecessary burdens for U.S. companies.
Robert Pastor says a more open public discussion would quiet what he calls conspiracy theorists.
PAUL: A north American union is impossible. None of the three governments or countries are interested in unifying into one country.
ROMANS: He says the goal is more cooperation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: But that doesn't quiet the concerns about this cooperation or what it's going to look like. Just yesterday Congressman Virgil Goode of Virginia introduced a resolution opposing a NAFTA superhighway and various elements of a North American Union, as the critics call it. And Robert Pastor, Lou, he says you're one of those critics, you're part of a conspiracy theory that just is not founded.
DOBBS: That I'm a conspiracy theorist? Well, I -- that's very flattering on the part of Mr. Pastor.
What he is is an out of control elitist, who hasn't been elected or in any way nominated by this government to do a darn thing that he's doing. And the fact that this administration and some of this country's largest corporations are pushing ahead with this, with some of Canada's leading elites and Mexico's -- there's not a single thing in this that even remotely has legitimacy and the fact that this Congress, thank goodness that Virgil Goode stepped up here, the fact that this Congress is not demanding an investigation into this right now is sickening.
This is elitism run rampant and it's just -- to me, it's just inexplicable why it's being tolerated. Pastor, what's his qualification?
ROMANS: He's studied north America and its institutions for 30 years.
DOBBS: Ah, good. And this is his conclusion after all that study at the Council of Foreign Relations? Thank you very much, Christine Romans.
That brings us to the subject of our poll tonight and Mr. Pastor, listen up because what we're going to do here is we're going to talk to somebody besides the head of a U.S. multinational or one of your little Bush administration friends or any of those other elitists in Canada or Mexico. Here we go.
Let's see what people have to say about your little idea. Do you believe there should be a federal investigation of U.S. government efforts to support a north American union? Yes or no. Please cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll have the results later here in the broadcast.
Up next, scandal rocks Capitol Hill. I'll be talking about what that could mean for the midterm elections and what a new book out by Bob Woodward might mean in the upcoming elections. I'll be talking with three of the very best political minds in the country.
And tonight in Heroes, our tribute each week to our fighting men and women. A marine battalion's fight in the street of Ramadi, a remarkable eyewitness account. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Joining me now, former White House political director, Republican strategist Ed Rollins; Michael Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize- winning columnist, "New York Daily News"; Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman.
It's going your way, Robert. Mike Foley in scandal, resigning, a Republican. It looks good for your side.
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, unless President Bush brings back Hugo Chavez, he's going to have to start dealing with the real issues. And I think what's happened, of course, in Congress, the Foley stories, and of course a terrible personal tragedy but it indicates also just how there is no margin of error for either side in this midterm election.
DOBBS: I have got to say something, and I don't want to seem too insensitive here. But the fact is, it is a personal tragedy. But the real tragedy is the victim in this, that 16-year-old boy and the fact that ...
ZIMMERMAN: No question about it.
DOBBS: ... it's a congressman. I think it's time we talked straight about where the tragedy is. And the fact that the page system in this -- in the capital of this country can't protect a 16- year-old, I mean, it's ridiculous.
ZIMMERMAN: I mean, I don't know all the facts yet on the case.
DOBBS: I don't either. That much I do know.
ZIMMERMAN: But the point it, it is -- you know, I'm not prepared to condemn the page system, but I think what we know so far, he was chairing a committee dealing with wayward youth and children who were facing abuse.
DOBBS: It's disgusting.
ZIMMERMAN: It's disgusting.
MICHAEL GOODWIN, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Well, you know, Lou, Mark Twain's great line, "there's no native criminal class in America except for Congress." I think it applies tonight.
DOBBS: It absolutely does.
ED ROLLINS, FMR. WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL DIR.: And this is a repeat. Something occurred very similar to this a decade ago in which both a female page was molested and a male page was molested by two prominent members of Congress. And, you know, you'd think once it occurred, there would be watch guards and, obviously, the system has broken down again.
DOBBS: Well, let me go back to something, Robert. In Connecticut, things aren't going your way. Lieberman, disdained by your party, rejected by your party, now holding a 10 percent lead over Ned Lamont of your party.
ZIMMERMAN: And probably -- it was the Democratic caucus of my party if he's elected, so it sounds pretty good to me. Joe Lieberman has been able to keep a broad coalition. It's interesting about Lamont. After winning that primary, he's not expanded his base. But I think one great aspect of this competition is that it's maximizing Democratic turnout. That helps us with three House seats that are up for grabs.
DOBBS: You guys are so fickle. You partisan strategists, if they're winning, you're with them, and if they're slipping ...
ROLLINS: Well, not everybody is with him. You have to remember presidential candidate John Kerry is in there campaigning right to the end with Lamont. All the losers go with all the losers. So it's just ...
DOBBS: Well, let's talk about Robert Menendez, the choice for the Senate by Governor Corzine.
ROLLINS: He's maintaining the high standards of the Jersey corrupt candidates, I think, and I think to a certain extent is giving the Republicans the best opportunity to win a Senate seat.
DOBBS: Michael, is he toast?
GOODWIN: I'll tell you, right now the polls have them pretty much neck and neck. And I think the focus has not started really intensely on this question of how did and why did he receive $300,000 from a nonprofit whom he helped get grants, millions of dollars of grants over the years.
DOBBS: And new charges about other appointments.
GOODWIN: Shaking down, you know.
ZIMMERMAN: You know something? At the end of the day, I think the public is getting very, very suspicious and tired of these types of 11th hour accusations that are made during the course of an election, a close election.
DOBBS: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let me ask something. It's 11th hour if it's a Democrat by the name of Menendez and it's what if it's ... ZIMMERMAN: Justified when it concerns Foley. Absolutely. Foley resigned. But you know, what's it's interesting about New Jersey, New Jersey has a history ...
GOODWIN: Menendez doesn't have the sense to resign.
DOBBS: But there's talk that the Democrats are actually saying things like we're going to put up a new candidate.
ZIMMERMAN: Well, that happened once before with Torricelli. That's how we got Lautenberg.
DOBBS: You're talking about 11th hour. How many days before the election?
(CROSSTALK)
GOODWIN: In New Jersey, apparently, you have to -- you can stay on and only have to resign until you're sworn in. Then you have to stay.
ZIMMERMAN: But there's a pattern in New Jersey where Democrats -- where the state traditionally flirts with the Republican and then goes back to the Democrat. That happened certainly with Kerry. It certainly happened during the Doug Forrester/Corzine race. They came back to Corzine. I think the state -- as long as Ed Rollins who won the -- he was the last -- he ran the last successful statewide Republican race.
DOBBS: And what was her name?
ROLLINS: Mrs. Whitman.
DOBBS: That's right.
GOODWIN: You know, Lou, I think there is a lesson, though, both in Congress and in New Jersey, and that is these kind of one party systems that we have. Now, Congress controlling both houses and the presidency. New Jersey effectively being now a one party state for the last decade. I think that does lead to complacency and corruption. And so I think the competitive system of having two parties with a mixed government always works best.
ROLLINS: One thing that's very important, we look at a lot of polls when we come down to the final weeks of a campaign. And most of the polls are national polls. They have Republicans up five, 10 points. It's national. These are district by district, state by state. And you really have to look at those polls, the individual polls, as opposed to the national polls.
Equally as important, one of the things that's very important, in presidential elections, a lot of people turn out. In the midyear, a lot of people don't turn out. And usually there's about a 25 percent dropout.
So we don't know who is going to turn out and usually it's partisan Republicans, partisan Democrats. And so we have to wait and see. Most of these races are going to get very close in the end here.
DOBBS: I want to -- I want you, if you would, listen to something, the president of the United States invoking the name of another president in a very important matter. If we could hear that from President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Party of FDR and the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut and run.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: I thought we were going to have some elevated rhetoric there. We start out with FDR and Harry Truman and we end up with cut and run.
GOODWIN: I had two reactions when I heard the president say that. The first is, it was a really stupid thing for the president to say. The second was he happens to be right. I think, unfortunately, Bush should not be talking in those terms. I think he should have left the dirty work to someone else.
But the fact is the Democrats -- we've said around this table, what do they stand for, particularly in the war on terror? It's not clear what the Democrats are for. What they are against is whatever Bush is for.
DOBBS: Mr. Zimmermann.
ZIMMERMAN: You know, between you and President Bush, I need dramamine to go with that spin. Let me tell you right now, the Democrats are the only ones with a plan to handle Iraq. And we've been out -- President Bush is giving us bumper sticker slogans to stay the course and stay in that civil war and he's cut and run on Afghanistan. He's cut and run in terms of the search for Osama bin Laden.
Democrats are out there -- you may not like the plan, but Democrats are saying we have got to redeploy our forces, we have to reshift our refocus to Afghanistan and other areas of terror. And also even George Will acknowledged John Kerry was right when Kerry said you fight terrorism not just militarily, but you fight them through intelligence gathering and police operations.
ROLLINS: I must have missed all that. Maybe it's because Nancy Pelosi is the one out there saying it.
ZIMMERMAN: No discussion is complete without you bringing up Nancy Pelosi.
ROLLINS: I've not heard that. What I have heard is that this president has said for the next two years we're going to stay -- we have a new ally. We've created a new ally in Iraq and we have an obligation to stay there until the end and make it work. ZIMMERMAN: That's our ally? The one who is embracing the president of Iran? That's our new ally, who's still supporting Hezbollah in Israel?
ROLLINS: The bottom line is we created what's there.
ZIMMERMAN: We sure did.
ROLLINS: And we have to make it work.
GOODWIN: You know, Robert I think is explaining exactly what I mean, Lou. He says the Democrats want to redeploy the troops. Now, redeploy is a euphemism for retreat.
DOBBS: He's sitting right here. We don't have to talk about Robert in the third person.
GOODWIN: Robert is speaking for the party.
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: Do you mean withdrawal, retreat?
(CROSSTALK)
ZIMMERMAN: You're a brilliant journalist and you understand the use of language. Redeploy means taking our troops out of a shooting gallery, out of a civil war that our own intelligence estimates ...
GOODWIN: And put them where?
ZIMMERMAN: Put them in Kuwait, put them around key areas and make sure the Iraqi army, the Iraqi military, step up and do the fight that our soldiers are readily doing.
GOODWIN: And what happens in Iraq? And what happens in Iraq?
ZIMMERMAN: We're saying do it right away. We're saying doing it over time. That's what we're calling the phased redeployment. You might not like the plan, but you can't say there is not a plan. What is the Bush plan? Tell me something, just to stay there for eternity?
GOODWIN: Well, I think the Bush plan is lately to put in more troops, to put in more troops into Iraq.
ZIMMERMAN: So we don't know what the Bush plan is.
GOODWIN: Oh, no, no. The number of troops has grown in the last month. As this show reported tonight, there's a new curfew in Baghdad.
DOBBS: Well, whether Democrat or Republican, I think -- I don't know if we can agree on this. I think the fact that this general staff has not been able to come up with an approach that assures victory, that accomplishes a strategy that, frankly, I happen to agree with you, Robert, that this administration has been stealth-like in discussing a strategy in Iraq for victory.
But I think this general staff that continues to ask for patience, continues to rationalize rising attacks -- Bob Woodward has a new book saying basically this administration is lying about violence -- Ed.
ROLLINS: I think the generals ...
DOBBS: In Iraq, violence in Iraq.
ROLLINS: I think the generals have been handicapped by a secretary of defense who, from the beginning, had a different thought process that may be very futuristic but is not fighting the war that's necessary. And I think they have basically made every single person that's there on the ground bite their tongue and I don't think they've gotten the troops or the equipment that they needed to fight the war correctly.
DOBBS: In that case, that rests with the commander in chief as well, would you not agree?
ROLLINS: I agree totally.
GOODWIN: And I think it's very curious, Bush now says it's up to the commanders on the ground but apparently, according to this book, earlier on, he rejected the commanders' request. So it's not clear who is in charge.
ZIMMERMAN: The bottom line is we know who is in charge. It's George W. Bush, and he's not made America safer because he's pursued this strategy in Iraq and he's hurt us in combating al Qaeda. That's the bottom line to that.
DOBBS: Robert Zimmermann, Michael Goodwin, Ed Rollins, gentlemen, thank you, as we approach those midterm elections.
ROLLINS: Thank you.
ZIMMERMAN: Thank you.
DOBBS: Coming up here next on CNN, "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Lou.
Happening now, more bombshells from Bob Woodward's new book, "State of Denial." We have a copy in our hands, a behind the scenes look at what's really going on at the White House when it comes to the war in Iraq. Is the president leveling with the American people?
Also, a Republican congressman resigns after questions about e- mail he sent to a 16-year-old boy. And tonight, there are more e-mail emerging, very graphic in nature. Could he face prosecution?
Plus, a corrupt lobbyist and Washington sleaze. An inside look at dirty politics in the nation's capital. And Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, a new video urging holy war in Darfur and a message for President Bush. All that, Lou, coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
DOBBS: Thank you, Wolf. Looking forward to it. And a reminder now to vote in our poll. The question, do you believe there should be a federal investigation of U.S. government efforts to support a North American union, yes or no? Please cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll have the results coming up here shortly, and we'll also be asking our political panel tonight for their answers to that, just to give you some idea of how they're thinking about it.
Still ahead, "Heroes." Tonight, the story of a Marine battalion in Iraq that's taken more casualties in seven months than battalions typically in Iraq in an entire year of combat. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Now, "Heroes," our weekly tribute to our men and women in uniform serving this nation around the world. Tonight, we take a look at a battalion of Marines that's fought nonstop for seven months against insurgents and terrorists in Ramadi, the capital of Al Anbar province. Michael Ware, our correspondent in Iraq, in Ramadi with the story of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LANCE CPL BEAMER DIAZ, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The people over here will die for each other, so, pretty much, it happens over here.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And happen it did. This is Ramadi, the worst of the Iraq front line. This day in May, Marines closing around a fallen comrade, shielding him from fire. It begins as a patrol. Two teams watching al Qaeda held streets, an insurgent sniper hunting one of them until they all push 150 meters behind the U.S. Marine outpost. And they're hit, caught in a killing zone, fire from two directions.
Somehow, only Lance Corporal Phillip Tussing (ph) is hit.
DIAZ: I think it's pretty crazy. A lot of times, you're just sitting around, nothing is going on. All of a sudden, two seconds later you're in a big firefight just fighting, trying to stay alive.
WARE: This was the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine regiment's war. Six hundred plus men ordered to go head to head with al Qaeda's suicidal jihadis in downtown Ramadi. In a battle their general admits he does not have enough troops to win, into what their commanders call a meat grinder.
CPL. DONALD BRIER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Definitely that. I lost one good friend and -- but I've talked to his wife. I've talked to his family. And they're all coping well. So I know I can cope well. If they can, I can, so.
WARE: These Marines fought day in, day out, repelling al Qaeda assaults from their outpost.
BRIER: A part of me says it will. A bigger part of me says I'll be fine. I got a lot of support back home. People have told me, we expect you to be different, things like that. But I think I'll be fine. I think a lot of these guys will be fine. It's just, I don't know, a lot of people think it will change you here.
WARE: Luring out al Qaeda, letting (inaudible) into vehicles. A few blocks down, the men draw an ambush from another street. The fight moves to a rooftop.
In seven months, this battalion suffered 17 killed in action, more than many brigades of 5,000 in Iraq lose in a year.
Their presence made a dent in al Qaeda, but listening to them, you hear in their own words how the price for this war is being paid.
BRIER: You get nervous when you come over, but once you're here, you're nervous, aren't you? Of course, you're nervous. You're coming into a (inaudible).
WARE: Michael Ware, CNN, Ramadi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: The 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines tonight are preparing to leave Iraq after their seven month tour of duty in Iraq. We, like you, thank them and all our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for their service.
Still ahead, we'll have more of your thoughts and the result of our poll tonight. Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Results of our poll overwhelming: 97 percent of you say there should be a federal investigation of U.S. government efforts to support that North American union. Our political panel of Ed Rollins, Michael Goodwin, Robert Zimmerman, all agreeing that an investigation should be under way.
Time now for your thoughts. Harry in Alaska wrote in to say: "Regarding the Bush administration wanting to combine Canada, Mexico and the United States, maybe we've already had a coup and they just haven't told us."
And Harley in Idaho: "It doesn't seem to make a difference who you vote for, Democrat or Republican. Both parties are trying to destroy the middle class in this country."
And Spring Lea in Colorado: "Lou, everyone keeps asking who will win in November. The way things are going, it won't matter who is elected. No one will win."
We love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts at loudobbs.com. Each of you whose email is read here receives a copy of Senator Byron Dorgan's new book, "Take This Job and Ship It."
We thank you for being with us tonight. Have a very pleasant weekend. Join us here Monday. For all of us, good night from New York. "THE SITUATION ROOM" begins now with Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
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