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Lou Dobbs Tonight
President Bush Meets Congressional Leaders Discussing Strategy In Iraq; Rumsfeld Still Believes United States Has Chance Of Success In Iraq; New Study Shows Outsourcing Jobs Has Negative Impact On The Companies That Send Jobs Overseas; Congress In Session Fewer Days Than Any Other Congress In U.S. History
Aired December 08, 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 ANCHOR: Tonight, President Bush meets congressional leaders discussing strategy in Iraq, but the president refuses to make a quick decision on changing course. We'll have a live report from the White House. Three of the country's best political analysts join us here tonight.
And many state politicians are addicted to uncontrolled spending, as well as our federal politicians. Some states now, though, are selling off our highways, built at taxpayer expense, of course, to foreign companies to finance their spending.
We'll have that special report and a great deal more, all the day's news straight ahead here tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, news, debate and opinion for Friday, December 8th.
Live in New York, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everybody.
President Bush tonight is preparing for a series of critical meetings next week that could determine whether he decides to withdraw our troops from Iraq and on what schedule. President Bush will talk with senior officials from the State Department and the Pentagon in this country and in Iraq.
Today, President Bush met with congressional leaders at the White House. President Bush's outgoing defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, today declared it would be a terrible mistake to withdraw our troops from Iraq precipitously. Rumsfeld insisting the United States can still succeed in Iraq.
Ed Henry tonight reports from the White House on the president's struggle to respond to rising criticism of his conduct of this war.
Jamie McIntyre reports tonight from the Pentagon on what may be Donald Rumsfeld's last public comments as secretary of defense.
And Nic Robertson reports from Baghdad tonight on the rising number of Iraqis being killed in sectarian violence.
We turn first to Ed Henry at the White House -- Ed. ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Lou, stung by the twin blows of the election results, as well as that stinging rebuke from the Iraq Study Group this week, the president is struggling to deal with the political ground shifting beneath his feet. So a president who for six years did very little outreach to Congress, today was all about consultation, hosting a bipartisan group of lawmakers for not the first, but the second time this week to discuss Iraq and the way forward.
But when you listen carefully to the president's own words, he is speaking mostly in generalities. He will not be pinned down on specific changes with regard to his Iraq policy. And when you listen closely to his spokesman, Tony Snow, he's making clear that while the president is doing a lot of consulting, in the end he's the one who's going to decide what the changes are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We talked about Iraq. And we talked about the need for a new way forward in Iraq. And we talked about the need to work together on this important subject. We also talked about other key issues.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What the president's going to do is what you would expect a commander in chief to do, which is take a careful and thoughtful look at the report. And as you know, there are other recommendations and suggestions and analyses coming his way in the very near future. And it's his job -- and people around the table understand this -- to try to come up with the best complex of policies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, the White House says that the president won't be pinned down on details, specific changes right now, because he's in listening mode, as you noted. He doesn't want to prejudge those separate reviews by his own administration, the Pentagon, the State Department, the National Security Council.
That's why on Monday, he'll be going to the State Department. Tuesday, a secure video conference with military commanders in the filed. Wednesday, he will be going to the Pentagon.
Then we're expecting some sort of a big speech before Christmas likely, according to aides, where the president will announce -- announce some changes to his Iraq policy. But the big question really is, how big will these changes be?
As you heard Tony Snow there basically say, he's going to listen, he's going to consult. But in the end, he's going to make the decision. He's going to make the final call.
And you'll remember earlier this year when the president faced a lot of criticism about Donald Rumsfeld, he said, "I hear the voices of criticism but I'm the decider." Same principle here applies -- Lou.
DOBBS: And do you detect any sense of urgency there at the White House to reorient its policies and strategy in Iraq?
HENRY: You can certainly feel an urgency that the White House feels they have to respond to the mounting criticism, that they certainly cannot ignore the bipartisan Iraq Study Group report. But I think they also feel like there are some holes in that report, that there -- not all the recommendations are being met with full support of the American people, or with experts. So they want to pick and choose some of those recommendations, but also pick some other recommendations from their internal reviews, cherry-pick it, if you will -- Lou.
DOBBS: Ed, thank you very much.
Ed Henry from the White House.
Well, as Ed suggested, there is some dissatisfaction on the part of the public with the president's conduct of this war. In fact, that dissatisfaction has risen to an all-time high.
Seventy-one percent of voters disapprove of the president's handling of this war, according to The Associated Press-Ipsos poll. That poll also revealing only nine percent of Americans expect this war to end in clear-cut victory for the United States. Eight-seven percent say the conflict will end with some sort of compromise.
Outgoing defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld still believes the United States has every chance of success in Iraq, as he put it. At a town hall meeting with Pentagon staff, the defense secretary pleaded for patience. Rumsfeld said it would be a terrible mistake, as he put it, to withdraw our troops quickly.
Jamie McIntyre reports now from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Rumsfeld's final Pentagon town hall meeting was sprinkled with some classic Rumsfeldian moments.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Secretary, how do you want history to remember you?
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: My goodness.
(LAUGHTER)
RUMSFELD: Better than the local press.
(APPLAUSE)
MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld was greeted with a standing ovation as he entered the Pentagon auditorium for his swan song. And he exits to stage unbowed and unapologetic for what his critics say were serious missteps and misjudgments, particularly about Iraq.
RUMSFELD: I wish I could say that everything we've done here has gone perfectly. But that's not how life works, regrettably.
MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld was the briefingest defense secretary ever, with more than 600 media appearances. And despite his frequent complaints about news coverage, he tossed a bouquet to the Pentagon press corps on his way out.
RUMSFELD: As a group, they may well be, year to year, the most professional press corps in the Washington, D.C., area. Now, considering the competition, I'll leave it to you to determine exactly what kind of a compliment that is.
MCINTYRE: Regrets, he has a few.
RUMSFELD: You know, clearly, the worst day was Abu Ghraib and seeing that what went on there and feeling so deeply sorry that that happened. And I guess my best day, I don't know, maybe a week from Monday.
(LAUGHTER)
MCINTYRE: That's when Robert Gates takes over and Rumsfeld retires. Perhaps to write a book.
RUMSFELD: I've never written a book. I always thought I was too young to write a book.
(LAUGHTER)
RUMSFELD: I can't use that anymore. I might. I might. I'll have to think about it.
MCINTYRE: He wrapped up his hour-long session with an impassioned plea not to throw in the towel on Iraq, and warning that pulling out U.S. troops precipitously would be a terrible mistake.
RUMSFELD: But by golly, it -- something important isn't easy. And this isn't easy. And by golly, it's important. And we'd better do it right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: One of Rumsfeld's top generals also said the war in Iraq is still winnable. Lieutenant General Pete Chiarelli, the operational commander in Iraq, said today that he still believes things can be turned around in Iraq and that the mission can succeed if -- if the Iraqi government moves forward with reconciliation. That's what he sees as the key -- Lou.
DOBBS: It is, I think, worthy of some discussion here for a moment, Jamie. The outgoing defense secretary, we've heard expressions and calls for patience. Now we're hearing from the general staff expressions of hope and also discussions that the outcome depends on causes beyond that of the general staff and the United States military.
Where has Defense Secretary Rumsfeld left this Pentagon and the general staff and the policy and strategy in Iraq?
MCINTYRE: Well, he's left it at a crossroads. And he's left it to his successors to try to figure out how to adjust to bring this all to a successful conclusion. And that is by no means certain at this point.
Rumsfeld insists that the only way the U.S. can lose is if it loses its will and gives up. But we're seeing a serious erosion of that will as the war continues to drag on.
DOBBS: Jamie, thank you very much.
Jamie McIntyre from the Pentagon.
In Iraq, four more of our soldiers have been killed. Three killed in roadside bomb attacks, a fourth soldier died of his wounds in the hospital.
Thirty-six of our troops have been killed in Iraq so far this month, putting this month on track to be among the bloodiest of the war.
2,926 of our troops have been killed since the war began. 22,057 of our troops have been wounded, 9,890 of them so seriously they couldn't return to duty within three days.
U.S. forces today killed 20 radical Islamist terrorists northwest of Baghdad. In Baghdad, insurgents killed at least eight Iraqis in a mortar attack on a Shiite neighborhood.
More than a hundred Iraqis are killed in this war each and every day. Many of them victims of sectarian violence. Iraqi police found more than 50 bodies in Baghdad alone over the course of the past two days.
Nic Robertson reports now from the Iraqi capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Iraq's rivers, a grim duty, searching for bodies. Baghdad's fabled Tigress River has become a dumping ground for the sectarian death squads, stalking the city streets.
SAMIR FATAH, POLICE DIVER (through translator): One day we recovered 70 bodies. They had been kidnapped and killed by terrorists.
ROBERTSON: As the killings have escalated, the river place are getting busier.
MUSHTAQ AQEEL, POLICE DIVER (through translator): Most of my job is looking for bodies. Because of the situation, we have no other work now.
ROBERTSON: Each day patrols go out. Each day they say they find at least six or seven bodies, although none on this training mission.
(on camera): The police patrol about 100 kilometers, about 60 miles of the river here. They say there are some places it's so dangerous when they go there, they need to take six patrol boats.
(voice-over): Police divers Samir Fatah and Mushtaq Aqeel joined the force together 12 years ago. They trained for life saving. Now young recruits are taught how to recover the dead.
Fatah and Aqeel recently returned from training in the U.S. Their patrol boats and equipment are U.S. supplied, part of the beef- up of Iraqi security forces.
Both are happy for the support. Both feel powerless to stop the killings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: It's all these sectarian killings that are beginning to change the map in Baghdad of where people live. People being forced from one community to go live somewhere else where they feel safer -- Lou.
DOBBS: Nic Robertson reporting from Baghdad.
Still ahead here, state politicians selling off state highways built at taxpayer expense to pay for their spending. We'll have that special report on a new trend in America.
Also, corporate America has waged war on middle class Americans for years, exporting millions of jobs to cheap overseas labor markets. Now it turns out that strategy may not have been as smart as some of the CEOs of those companies believed.
We'll have that report.
And a congressional panel releasing its long-awaited report on the Foley scandal on Capitol Hill.
We'll have that live report and a great deal more straight ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Controversy tonight over proposals to sell taxpayer- owned-and-paid-for assets to foreign interests. And a new study shows outsourcing jobs has a negative impact on not only American workers, but also on the companies that send their jobs overseas.
Lisa Sylvester reports on the controversy over a proposal to sell part -- part of Pennsylvania's turnpike to private foreign interests.
Bill Tucker reports tonight on two studies that now say outsourcing isn't the long-term answer to -- for American interests.
We begin with Lisa Sylvester.
Lisa, tell us all about it.
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, outsourcing of American jobs, insourcing of foreign labor. And now there is a new trend that state politicians are advancing: selling off American roads.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER (voice-over): The Pennsylvania Turnpike stretches 537 miles. This critical piece of northeast infrastructure may soon go on the auction bloc.
Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell says it's one option the state is considering to plug a $1.7 billion transportation budget hole.
GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: All of the money that comes from the sale of the turnpike will be put into a fund, and 100 percent of the interest income that that generates will be used for transportation.
SYLVESTER: Proponents say it's an alternative to raising fuel taxes. Critics rip the proposal as shortsighted, saying elected leaders should not be selling off or leasing American assets that belong to the taxpayers.
Adding more fuel to the debate, the leading bidders are foreign companies.
TODD SPENCER, OWNER-OPERATOR, IND. DRIVERS ASSN.: They're auctioning off our roads, they're pawning our roads to the highest bidder worldwide. So, you know, to continue deficit spending. You're darn right it ought to make people angry as it could be.
SYLVESTER: An Australian-Spanish consortium has been quietly snapping up major U.S. highways. In January, the group secured a lease for 99 years of the Chicago skyway for $1.83 billion. In March, the same company convinced Indiana to lease for 75 years the 157-mile Indiana toll road.
That state receives $4 billion up front. The private company pockets future toll revenue but promises maintenance upkeep.
Indiana state representative David Orentlicher is not convinced taxpayers got a good deal.
DAVID ORENTLICHER, INDIANA STATE HOUSE: With a consortium based in Australia and Spain, and that has investors abroad, their concern is going to be with their investment, not with the welfare of people who live in Indiana and who use that toll road.
SYLVESTER: Orentlicher and others also worry states are receiving a windfall in transportation money now. But if the states do not invest that money wisely, where does that leave future generations down the road?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: Pennsylvania says if it decides to lease or sell the turnpike, there will be limits on how much tolls could be raised, and the company would have to agree to maintenance schedules. But critics question, if a private company can make it profitable to run and maintain these highways, why can't the state governments then do the same thing -- Lou.
DOBBS: This is a remarkable development. It fits in with the utter idiocy that is gripping this nation right now and most of its political leaders. Most. Not all, but most.
The idea that a taxpayer asset paid for by taxpayers, owned by the taxpayers, could be sold to a foreign interest, what right do they have to sell something that belongs to taxpayers?
SYLVESTER: You know, and in many cases the state governments are not going directly to the people. They're not putting this up for a referendum, up for a vote. And when you ask people and explain to them what's been going on, many people are just downright outraged that this is happening.
DOBBS: As they well should be. The fact that this -- and I am -- Governor Rendell is an outstanding governor. For him to get behind this shows you the desperation of the state government in Pennsylvania, it also shows you, in my opinion, the absolute shortsightedness. And if the taxpayers of Pennsylvania put up with this, they frankly deserve whatever they get.
SYLVESTER: Well, they're spending future money for generations to come. I mean, it's just -- even from a fiscal standpoint...
DOBBS: This is -- this is outrageous. And if the people of Pennsylvania tolerate this, there's no end to what they'll tolerate.
Lisa, thank you very much.
Lisa Sylvester.
Well, another possible sell-off tonight, this time in our automobile business. Communist China's largest auto parts maker is in talks now to buy factories in this country from Ford and General Motors. That according to "The Financial Times."
Imports already accounting for a third of the auto parts market in this country. If these acquisitions were to go ahead, those imports would be dominating the U.S. market.
Two new studies tonight questioning the corporate wisdom of sending American jobs overseas. Deloitte Consulting, a leading proponent of outsourcing for years, has changed its mind. It now says that corporations may not have fully realized the risks involved.
And a Duke University study shows that the long-term effects of moving jobs overseas will lead to a decline in innovation here.
Where have you heard that before? Right on this broadcast.
Bill Tucker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Faster...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd like to check on the status of a claim, please.
TUCKER: ... cheaper, not always better. A new report by Deloitte Consulting raises a caution flag in the race to offshore business, stating, "While outsourcing has become synonymous with growth, it has nothing to do with growth. It has everything to do with cost, specifically cost reduction."
It also warns of a loss of control -- "... executives have become distant from production, making them ill-prepared or clueless about how to handle these risks."
Deloitte argues that is a huge mistake.
KENNETH LANDIS, DELOITTE CONSULTING: It's created a new form of risk. It's a risk that -- it's palatable, and corporations can feel it and they can taste it and they can smell it, but they're not actively managing it.
TUCKER: In fact, companies are often running directly into the teeth of risks, the report notes, as companies set up businesses in politically unstable regions and create supply chains that are vulnerable because some parts of the product are produced in one country and other parts in yet another. The sense of urgency to make quick decision produces hurried decisions, not considered ones, in the search for lower and lower costs.
Vivek Wadhwa is a former corporate executive who now teaches at Duke University's Engineering Department.
VIVEK WADHWA, DUKE UNIVERSITY: So I understand where they're coming from. Having been on -- been a CEO myself, I understand what drives them to do what they have to do. But like I said, now I'm looking at it from an -- as an American, and I'm worried for this country.
Now, I think the government has to basically look at what's going on here and we need to develop policies that foster innovation, that foster research at home.
TUCKER: For Wadhwa, the biggest risk of offshoring is the loss of research and development as it follows manufacturing out of the country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: Now, the most profound statement in the Deloitte study is deceptively simple and very obvious. It's the observation that many businesses now operate on a cost cutting model, Lou, not on the old-fashioned model known as revenue growth.
DOBBS: Well, you know, I'm torn on the issue of Deloitte. I've been saying precisely what is in that report on then broadcast for better than three years in terms of innovation, in terms of separating production from management and the resultant and loss in innovation.
And the fact that -- and I've said for years, when you hear CEOs and companies start talking about competitiveness, productivity and efficiency, those have become in a corporate America whose management is become increasingly unimaginative, it has become code words simply for cheap labor.
So I want to congratulate Deloitte Consulting for having the guts -- because it takes guts, believe me, to say to corporate America, particularly when you're part of it, as is Deloitte, that you're a bunch of fools and it's time to start speaking straight about what you're doing to this middle class and to this country. So I want to congratulate them.
I just wish they would have been there taking my back when a few arrows were coming this way about three years ago. Of course, in the past three, I guess those arrows on outsourcing stopped about a year ago when we took up with a new set of criticisms.
So Deloitte will not be accused of being a xenophobe or fools, I guess.
TUCKER: Perhaps not.
DOBBS: I think not. All right.
Thank you very much, Bill Tucker.
You two have just ticked me off. The idea -- the idea that intelligent men and women running state governments, stewards of taxpayer-funded assets in the case of roads, turning them over to foreign corporations and governments, the idea that corporate America hasn't got the guts and the decency and the principle to stop the practice of outsourcing middle class jobs, this country, we need to take a hard look at ourselves and figure out what in the world we're doing and what we're doing to our children. And soon.
Thank you both. I appreciate it.
Coming up next here, it's being called -- it is the do-nothing Congress. It's not being called that. It is.
We'll take a look at what all our lawmakers don't do or didn't do. Maybe they couldn't do.
And the House Ethics Committee, it did. It says GOP leadership negligent in protecting House pages from congressmen.
We'll have that report. But we knew that, didn't we?
And California firefighters battling a wind-driven brushfire pushing toward Los Angeles.
We'll have that and a great deal more straight ahead.
Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Congress, you'll be pleased to know, goes home this weekend after being in session fewer days than any other Congress in U.S. history. Lawmakers could have dealt with critical issues such as illegal immigration, securing our borders, reforming Social Security, perhaps coming up with some solutions to health care costs. But instead, this Congress spent a lot of time arguing about gay marriage, flag burning and the Terri Schiavo case.
Oh, yes, they still haven't passed a federal budget either.
Bill Schneider has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Here's what the new House speaker says.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER-ELECT: It's been a do- nothing Congress.
SCHNEIDER: Worse, says this congressional scholar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the mother of all do-nothing congresses.
SCHNEIDER: Congress worked 103 days this year, not even half as many days as a full-time worker. Did this do anything?
Three hundred and seventy-four bills were signed into law. Over a quarter of them were bills to rename federal buildings, like a post office named for actress Ava Gardner.
Congress did make it harder to declare bankruptcy. They increased penalties for indecency in broadcasting. No more wardrobe malfunctions.
They authorized a 700-mile fence along the border with Mexico, but they didn't fund it.
Congress failed to pass lobbying reform or immigration reform or Social Security reform. They failed to raise the minimum wage or make the tax cuts permanent.
They debated constitutional amendments to ban flag burning and same-sex marriage but didn't pass them.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: Will we debate the raging war in Iraq? No. Will we address our staggering national debt? No. SCHNEIDER: Congress's job is to pass a budget. Out of 12 bills needed to fund the federal government, they ended up passing two.
One thing they did do, go into emergency session to pass a bill aimed at saving Terri Schiavo.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: I'm heartened by the way Congress is uniting in a bipartisan, bicameral way in this unique situation.
SCHNEIDER: The Republican Congress was perfectly willing to placate its base, but totally unwilling to deal with the tough issues or even debate them.
NORM ORNSTEIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: As Republicans in Congress decided that the best thing for them to do approaching a pivotal election was to hunker down, hope that nobody paid attention, and let things pass them by.
SCHNEIDER: The Republican Congress tried to play it safe. They ended up losing everything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: Now Congress is out of session. And maybe that's good news. As Will Rogers once said, quote, "the country has come to feel the same way when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer" -- Lou.
DOBBS: Indeed, and Steny Hoyer, an integral part of the new leadership for the Democrats on Capitol Hill says the baby's going to have a hammer five days a risk next year.
SCHNEIDER: That could be a very big risk, dangerous and irresponsible, but they are going to be in session more than in the past. So watch out.
DOBBS: Absolutely. Bill Schneider, thank you.
We should point out Congress also failed yet again to raise the minimum wage, which was last increased almost 10 years ago. But since then, members of the House and Senate have raised their own pay eight times. Eight.
However, the Democratic leaders who will be running Congress next year are trying tonight to block a ninth increase until the minimum wage, of course, is raised. Now, mind you, that's the federal minimum wage. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have already raised their minimum wages out of disgust for the inaction of Congress.
That brings us to the subject of our poll. We're asking tonight, do you think we should start a take a Congressman to work day in this country so that members of Congress can learn what it means to be as productive as the average American worker who, by the way, they ignore and actually work against? I love this concept. I hope that you do, too. Please vote yes or no. I'm imploring you to vote yes. It's an objective poll. Please vote yes. Cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll be back in just a moment with the results.
And time now for some of your thoughts.
Burch in Connecticut: "It amazes me, Lou, that someone, we don't know who, had to hire a bunch of retired politicians at God knows what cost just to spend weeks and probably thousands of our taxpayer money just to tell us what we've always known."
Well, actually, we spent over $1 million and those distinguished members of the panel spent eight months to give us that report and those recommendations. It's quite a country, isn't it, when we have to have a commission of distinguished Americans just to simply speak truth to power.
Eugene in New Jersey: "Lou, the destructive trade deals of our government are just as traitorous as the selling of classified information or military intelligence would be."
Susan in Florida said, "Lou, what else can we export but nuclear technology or democracy since we don't actually make anything in this country anymore besides golf balls and rap videos?
Send us your thoughts to you LouDobbs.com. More of your thoughts coming up here later. Each of you whose e-mail is read here receives a copy of my book "War on the Middle Class."
Up next, a House Ethics Committee report on the Mark Foley scandal is out. You won't believe this, but it suggests that the leadership of Congress was perhaps somewhat negligent. We'll have late reaction to that.
And ahead, shocking new revelations about the culture of corruption not in Washington, D.C., at all levels of government in this country. We'll have that report.
And President Bush comes up with a new way to parry those tough questions. Prime Minister Blair backing it up, picking it up and it's spreading. We'll have the story and a great deal more. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Our top story tonight, President Bush meeting with congressional leaders from both parties discussing strategy in Iraq. The president refusing to say whether he will implement the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, the group proposing, of course, a major shift in U.S. strategy.
Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today said it would be a terrible mistake, as he put it, to withdraw from Iraq precipitously. Rumsfeld, who leaves office later this month, insists the United States can still achieve success in Iraq. Congress goes home this weekend after being in session fewer days than any other Congress in American history. The 109th Congress worked 103 days this year, not even half as many days as a full-time worker in this country. Of course, that Congress ignored the full- time workers in this country and their families.
Police in Brazil have formally charged two American pilots in connection with a midair collision there two-and-a-half months ago. The American pilots were flying a small business jet that collided with a Gol Airlines Boeing 737. All 154 people aboard that aircraft were killed.
The pilots, who landed safely in the business jet, said air traffic controllers ordered them to fly at the same altitude as the other jet. A preliminary report by the Brazilian air force supports their claim.
Firefighters in California hope to contain a wildfire in Kern County by tomorrow. Some 2,500 acres have been burning at the base of the Grapevine, a major mountain pass about 150 miles north of Los Angeles. The fire started just off Interstate 5. A driver had mechanical trouble with his pickup. He pulled over and the truck burst into flames and so did the brush.
Actor Wesley Snipes is free on $1 million bail tonight. He was arrested in Florida, authorities charging Snipes illegally claimed $12 million in tax refunds and didn't file tax returns for a five-year period. He faces up to 16 years in prison should he be convicted. Snipes' attorneys say the actor is the victim of bad advice by unscrupulous accountants.
On Capitol Hill tonight, the House Ethics Committee investigating the Mark Foley scandal reported that Republican leaders were negligent in protecting teenage pages on Capitol Hill. But the committee says those leaders broke no rules.
Andrea Koppel has the report -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lou, nine weeks and one day after the House Ethics Committee launched its investigation, interviewing over 50 people and getting together about 3,000 pages of transcriptions of the testimony, they've put out this enormous report.
As you said, they conclude that no one broke any House rules and decided that no one will be punished. The report says that, "In all, a pattern of conduct was exhibited among many individuals to remain willfully ignorant of the potential consequences of former Representative Foley's conduct with respect to House pages."
Still, it concludes, "the investigative subcommittee did not find that any current House members or employees violated the House code of official conduct."
Now, remember that former Congressman Foley resigned back in October after news reports that had he exchanged sexually explicit instant messages with former pages.
And, Lou, this report also shows that this may have gone back to 1995, the mid-'90s -- Lou.
DOBBS: Andrea, perhaps this concludes what has been a sordid -- another sordid episode in the history of this Congress. We thank you very much, Andrea Koppel from Capitol Hill.
It should come as no surprise the number of government corruption cases is skyrocketing in this country. Now, the FBI is confirming that with its latest report. Investigation of corruption has become a top priority for the FBI.
Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The FBI is claiming 1,000 convictions in government corruption cases in the past two years. It's not just the high-profile Capitol Hill cases, it grabbed at all kinds of levels, even police officers. The FBI says investigation of corruption by public officials is up by 30 percent over the past four years.
Congressional corruption cases have been the headline grabbers. Investigations into former lobbyist Jack Abramoff produced a guilty plea from Congressman Bob Ney.
There was also former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham and the FBI investigation of Representative William Jefferson.
REP. DOC HASTINGS (R-WA), ETHICS CHAIRMAN: Doing the right thing is the only acceptable option. At those times, each of us who is privileged to serve in the House -- members, officers, and staff alike -- has an affirmative obligation to speak up and to seek appropriate action and then to follow up to ensure that that concern has been properly addressed.
PILGRIM: But it trickles down the halls of power to local governments, too. In the past two years, the bureau has convicted 159 state officials, 360 local officials, and 365 police officers.
So who's watching? Common Cause, a voter watchdog group whose motto is holding power accountable.
MARY BOYLE, COMMON CAUSE: In Washington we have seen a culture for a long time where there were no consequences to not following the rules. There was no enforcement of the rules. And as a result, people see they break a rule and nothing happens.
PILGRIM: The number of FBI agents assigned to anti-corruption cases is up from 451 in 2000 to 618 this year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: And the change congressional leadership is no guarantee that the corruption will be eliminated.
In the meantime, taxpayers will foot the bill for more than 600 agents to stay on the job, Lou.
DOBBS: I think most taxpayers would probably foot the bill for about 5,000 agents because there is a sordid, sordid smell about public service right now in this country. This is amazing -- 30 percent in four-year period. How does that is compare historically?
PILGRIM: Well, it's among the highest rates ever. And Common Cause said we've hit a real low point on uncovering this kind of corruption.
DOBBS: OK. Let's boost it -- 5,000. Go FBI. Thank you very much.
Coming up, analysis of the latest fallout from the Iraq study group report. Our panel of top analysts will be here to do just that. An unexpected result of the Iraq group report, a new Bush administration catch phrase that's spreading. I don't know how catchy it is. But we'll be reporting on that.
And tonight, our hero. Our weekly salute to men and women in uniform around the country and around the world. It's an amazing story tonight. Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Well, to say the least, it's been quite a week for the Bush administration. And with that, let me turn to our panel of analysts, experts and the finest folks here. Robert Zimmerman, he is a Democratic strategist, Democratic National Committee member; and Michael Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, New York Daily News and Ed Rollins, former White House political director, Republican strategist. It's good to have you back.
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.
DOBBS: Let me begin with you. What in the world would you tell the Bush White House if they were to listen to you or to anyone else?
ROLLINS: I wouldn't panic over the Baker report. I think it's a good assessment of what is wrong. The solutions, obviously, have to come from the new secretary of defense and the new congress. And I think that's what has to basically lay out the solutions.
You know, the 79 suggestions that the commission made are all fine. But the bottom line is they're not going to be held accountable. And most of them won't work in the end. And certainly not all of them together will work.
I object, personally, to sitting down with Syria and Iran -- and I think until they make some concessions. I think the generals ought to have say what we do with our troops. I don't like the idea of having our troops pull back and then basically say OK, some of you get to go in there and be with the Iraqis who aren't fighting well. I think we put them at great risk. And I don't want to put anybody at risk.
DOBBS: That's the point if you're one of those -- one of those troops, one of our troops being asked to do that, you might be saying if it weren't for the honor of the thing.
ROLLINS: We don't let our troops go in under U.N. command. I sure as hell wouldn't want to go in under Iraqi control. And I think that's a very important point.
DOBBS: I think a good test would be when you -- when American journalists are embedding with Iraqi units rather than American. It might be a more palatable approach.
Michael, your thoughts.
MICHAEL GOODWIN, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Well, I think what's interesting, what has emerged, I think is Robert Gates really is much more in sync with the Iraq study group than the president is or the outgoing secretary of defense obviously.
So I think now we're going to have a test of wills and a test of real challenges for the president, which -- and I think he's right to take a couple of weeks as your report suggested. He's going to have a series of meetings and try to come to some conclusion before Christmas. I think that's the only course...
DOBBS: I think that a deliberative time is certainly appropriate. But this war has gone on longer than World War II. We're coming up on an ugly anniversary, the fourth year of the conflict.
GOODWIN: Right.
DOBBS: For this Iraq study group to have taken eight months to come forward with this report does not smack of to me of great urgency and certainly not the urgency that's required when -- I mean 608 of our troops died, were killed in that period of time.
GOODWIN: Right. I mean, the truth is, though, that none of the ideas are revolutionary. They've all been out there.
DOBBS: That's another issue.
GOODWIN: So what they've done is that put them on the table in a public way they can't be ignored. I think that's the real contribution here.
DOBBS: Although, it does sound like President Bush might ignore them.
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think that's what's really revolutionary. For the first time we have a factual analysis done that's going to force the White House to deal with the reality. That by itself is a revolution.
And I think, you know, this is not just a study. This is the first and only bipartisan study that's been done. I think what's most significant about it is the fact that they are recognizing the need for regional solution and in fact, are showing the diplomatic authority to recognize the importance of bringing trying to show Iran why it's in their interests to come to the table.
DOBBS: If we may, let's talk about that diplomatic geopolitical maturity. If I may, Jeanne Moos did a wonderful report on language being used by this administration and by the Iraqi study group. And if we could, let's move to the way forward as it were with Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When those pesky reporters start asking those f-word questions...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you capable of admitting your failures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you acknowledge that your approach has failed?
MOOS: It's time to tell them to look forward, not back.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And design a way forward.
MOOS: In one answer alone, President Bush used the phrase five times.
BUSH: The way forward in Iraq. An important way forward. Talk about the way forward. Analyze the way forward.
MOOS: Apparently, the way forward is contagious. Tony Blair caught it standing next to President Bush.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The way forward. How do we will find the right way forward. We've got to get the right way forward.
MOOS: You could blame it on the Iraq study group for naming one of the sections in the report the way forward.
Even Democrats like to go forward. Senator Barack Obama's big foreign policy speech was titled "A Way Forward in Iraq," while Senator Joe Biden called his it, "Iraq: A Way Forward."
(on camera): But watch out, the phrase the way forward tends to surface when things are complete utter total mess.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We call our plan the way forward.
MOOS (voice-over): That's the head of ford motor company announcing a restructuring that would cut 25,000 jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way forward contains some strong medicine.
MOOS: But which way is forward? Wondered Forbes magazine when the plan to move forward seemed stuck.
You might as well get used to hearing the administration's new mantra.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: A way forward. The new way forward. What he sees as the new way forward.
MOOS: He also uses variations of the phrase.
BUSH: Go forward. Go forward. I'm heading back.
MOOS: Nah, that's no policy reversal, just the president heading back to pick a questioner.
All this forward motion...
BLAIR: A different way forward, whatever way forward.
BUSH: You know, an important way forward.
MOOS: Sort of makes you long for the days of...
BUSH: We'll stay the course.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Robert Zimmerman, that was a true, true bipartisan effort that Jeanne Moos reported to us. A wonderful piece of reporting.
ZIMMERMAN: Absolutely.
DOBBS: Barack Obama, President Bush, Tony Blair. I mean, is there any end to the blather in this country on the part of our elected officials and visiting dignitaries?
ZIMMERMAN: I don't know that I'm an expert on blather in the country, but I'll take a stab at it.
I think it speaks to a bipartisan lack of credibility. I think that's what we have to focus on for a moment.
DOBBS: This is where you deserve the fist.
ROGERS: I don't think we should get too worked up. I mean, the idea that this group, which is really a Washington dinner party group -- and they're all great Americans and they've all served their country well -- but the idea that Vernon Jordan and Jimmy Baker could get together and be called bipartisan is absurd. I mean, it's just -- there's 10 people who wanted to come to a consensus and they made a lot of compromises. But when it gets to be bipartisan is when the Congress and the president can sit down and say, this is the game and this is the goals.
DOBBS: But what does it say about this country when you hear intelligent people start this nonsense, way forward. It becomes the mantra and lexicon of current political thinking and articulation.
GOODWIN: Well, Lou...
DOBBS: We're talking about men and women being killed in Iraq, Americans dying. And it takes eight months for this? And then we are treated to this kind of palpable nonsense?
GOODWIN: I think when you read the report, it is stunning how bad things are. And I'm reading Thomas Ricks' book called "Fiasco."
DOBBS: Absolutely.
GOODWIN: Which, I mean, you put these things side by side, it is the most distressing and depressing body of work. And I think that the problem...
DOBBS: Wait a minute. We're Americans. We can't be distressed and depressed. We've got our men and women dying in Iraq.
GOODWIN: Well, I am over Iraq. I am over Iraq, and I think that the way forward is just simply a euphemism for we don't know where we're going, we don't know what we're doing, but give us a little more time.
ZIMMERMAN: Think about the American psyche. In 72 hours, we've gone from the president's rhetoric to saying we are winning and making progress to now the prediction -- now acknowledging that we are in dire straits, with weeks or days before this is totally unworkable.
GOODWIN: The president's coming closer, but he hasn't said it quite that frankly yet.
ROGERS: And the most telling part of this report -- the most telling part of this report is they went to Iraq once. Six of the 10 members. Only one member could leave the green zone, and that was Chuck Robb who was a former Marine and was willing to do it.
DOBBS: And Laura Ingraham pointed out that Chuck Robb the other day was that -- was giving him credit. Not enough people are. Glad you did, Senator Robb, former Senator Robb deserves our credit for that.
ROGERS: Yes, indeed.
DOBBS: And you gentlemen deserve credit for being here. We thank you very much. Ed, Michael, Robert, thank you.
Up next, he served in Afghanistan and he served in Iraq. In each place, he's been decorated for valor and bravery. His story is next in "Heroes."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Coming up at the top of the hour, blasting Bush. A tough Republican conservative speaking out on the war and suggesting it may even be criminal.
A lapse in ethics. Republicans are found to be negligent in protecting young pages against a predatory congressman. But will anyone be punished in the Mark Foley page scandal? We'll have the report, which includes some stunning, never-seen-before e-mail and instant messages.
Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld holds his last town hall meeting with Pentagon employees. At one point, he gets emotional.
Also, turning against Jimmy Carter. We'll find out why a former colleague feels the former president is rewriting history.
All that coming up in "THE SITUATION ROOM." LOU DOBBS TONIGHT continues in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Tonight, "Heroes," our tribute to our servicemen and women serving this nation around the world. Tonight, the story of Air Force Tech Sergeant Stephen Achey, who showed bravery under fire while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Christine Romans has his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TECH SGT STEPHEN ACHEY, U.S. AIR FORCE: And this is a PSM 13.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tech Sergeant Stephen Achey combines his technical expertise with on-the-ground bravery to fight the war on terror.
ACHEY: I mean, I go out with the Army and we go out and find the fight and bring the Air Force to it. Bring the Air Force that everybody else knows, F-16s, F-15s, A-10s, the B-52s, the AC-130s, the B-1s.
ROMANS: A few months after 9/11, Achey got the chance to put his expert training to use when he was sent to Afghanistan.
ACHEY: I was in Operation Anaconda as a very young joint internal (ph) attack controller.
ROMANS: His initial days of war were relatively calm. But then one day in March, Sergeant Achey and his unit found themselves in the fight of their lives.
ACHEY: We landed in really hot LZ, landing zone, an we started taking fire the minute we got off the helicopter. It was just really -- it was a long, 18-hour firefight that nobody had really anticipated or, you know, planned for.
ROMANS: Sergeant Achey was hit, but continued to engage the enemy. Under heavy machine gun fire, he risked his life to retrieve equipment that he later used to call in fighter planes to destroy the enemy. He also helped remove the wounded. Sergeant Achey received the Silver Star for his courageous and aggressive acts.
Exactly a year later, he was in Iraq.
ACHEY: The reason I volunteered to go is because they needed people, and I already had armor experience.
ROMANS: And that experience, along with his expertise directing air strikes, once again kept the enemy at bay during repeated attacks.
ACHEY: I destroyed I think three tanks, two triple A pieces, one artillery piece, and a bunch of guys.
ROMANS: His acts of bravery in Iraq earned him a Bronze Star.
But Sergeant Achey doesn't focus on the awards. He's passionate about his work and committed to winning the war.
ACHEY: So I actually go out with the Army and be where air power actually meets the enemy. And you know, to make a difference, that's -- I mean, who wouldn't want to do that?
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Just this past September, Sergeant Achey received the prestigious Keeper of the Flame Award for his acts of courage fighting the war on terror.
Our poll result: 96 percent of you say we should start a take-a- congressman to work day. So let's do it. That's our broadcast for tonight. Thanks for being with us. Have a great weekend. Good night from New York. "THE SITUATION ROOM" begins now with Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
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