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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Foreign Policy Battle: Pelosi's Visit to Syria; Defense Secretary Warns of U.S. Pullout From Iraq; British Hostages Released
Aired April 04, 2007 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, HOST: Tonight, House Speaker Pelosi meeting with the Syrian president. The visit the latest effort by congressional Democrats to influence this country's foreign policy agenda.
We'll have a special report for you from Damascus.
Also tonight, a blunt admission by Defense Secretary Robert Gates about the future of the conduct of the war in Iraq. Gates acknowledging what will happen if Democrats cut off funds for this war.
We'll have the story.
And the Iranian president announces the release of 15 British sailors and marines held hostage for almost two weeks. Has the Iranian president won a strategic victory?
We'll have that special report, all the day's news, and much more straight ahead here tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, news, debate and opinion for Wednesday, April 4th.
Live in New York, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everybody.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today ignored White House objections, and she met with the Syrian president in Damascus. Speaker Pelosi the highest ranking American to meet with a Syrian president in more than a decade.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert Gates today admitted that congressional Democrats do have the power to force the Bush administration to withdraw our troops from Iraq, but Secretary Gates warned that a U.S. withdrawal would lead to an explosion of what he called ethnic cleansing.
Brent Sadler reports from Damascus tonight on Speaker Pelosi's controversial visit.
Barbara Starr reports from the Pentagon on the secretary's blunt assessment of the direction of this war.
Matthew Chance reports from London tonight on Iran's sudden decision to release those 15 British hostages. We turn first to Brent Sadler -- Brett.
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Lou, Syrian officials applaud House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Damascus, praising her courage, complimenting her diplomatic skills, hoping it might help convince the White House to view Syria in a different light.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SADLER (voice over): House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls on Syria's top leaders to help the United States fight terror and wants to help Israel and Syria resume peace talks, infuriating the White House by opening a dialogue with a regime that's been isolated.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: We came in friendship, we came with hope, we came determined that the road to Damascus would be a path to peace.
SADLER (on camera): If withering White House criticism of the Pelosi visit here, including a strong rebuke from the U.S. president himself, was supposed to make the House speaker think twice about meeting president Bashar al-Assad, it failed.
(voice over): A relaxed and at times smiling Syrian leader greeted the delegation speaking English. Syria was ready for serious dialogue with the United States, President Assad argued, even if the George Bush White House ignored his regime.
PELOSI: We expressed our concern about Syria's connection to Hezbollah and Hamas and the importance of Syria's role with Hamas in promoting peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
SADLER: But another black mark for Syria's conduct towards Iraq.
PELOSI: We called to the attention of the president our concerns about fighters crossing the Iraq-Syria border to the detriment of the Iraqi people and our soldiers.
SADLER: These meetings, though, weren't about solving the Mideast's raging problems, but to discuss them and break down barriers.
Speaker Pelosi made no direct comments about the political heat back home, stressing instead the responsibility of Congress to explore every remedy and opportunity to find peace in the Middle East.
Brent Sadler, CNN, Damascus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: President Bush today launched a new verbal offensive against Speaker Pelosi and other Democratic critics of his conduct of this war. In a speech to troops and military families in Fort Irwin, California, President Bush said the United States must not allow the enemy to win in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, it's not a civil war. It is pure evil. And I believe we have an obligation to protect ourselves from that evil. And so while we're making progress, it also is tough, and so the way to deal with it is to stay on the offense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Now, President Bush's defense secretary, Robert Gates, today also blasted Democrats demanding a withdrawal from Iraq. Gates said a withdrawal would lead to a surge on what he called ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, insurgents today launched a new wave of bomb attacks across Iraq.
Barbara Starr reports from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, the aftermath of twin bomb attacks. Progress in Iraq is still very much a mixed picture.
CNN has obtained a copy of a letter the Joint Chiefs of Staff is sending to Congress outlining what will happen in the war if the military doesn't quickly get the $100 billion it wants in additional war funding. Without that money, the chiefs say there will be "... increasingly disruptive measures..."
Spending restrictions could delay sending fresh troops to Iraq to replace those completing their tour of duty.
ROBERT GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Well, if it were a complete cutoff of the funds, I mean, there's no question that that would bring an end to the war. We would have to come home if there were no funds at all.
STARR: Gates has already been briefed on what will happen if Congress delays approving the funding.
GATES: If the supplemental isn't approved by April 15th, they -- they said in their letter that the Army would be forced to curtail or suspend the training of reserve units preparing for rotations, to slow the training of the next deployers, stop the repair of tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: You know, Lou, the political reality is this, however -- there will eventually be some kind of compromise, some kind of political deal. Money will be provided, and Secretary Gates' concern that he might have to end the war is not very likely to come true, at least not now -- Wolf -- Lou.
DOBBS: Barbara, thank you very much.
Barbara Starr from the Pentagon.
Insurgents have killed another of our troops in Iraq. The soldier was killed by small arms fire in southern Baghdad.
Ten of our troops have been killed so far this month, 3,259 of our troops killed since the beginning of the war. 24,476 of our troops wounded, 0,931 of them seriously.
House Democrats are not only trying to challenge the White House policy in Iraq, they're also now trying to ban phrases that the Bush administration uses to describe the war against radical Islamist terrorists. The House Armed Services Committee is now telling its staff members, "Please avoid using colloquialisms such as 'the war on terrorism' or 'the long war.'"
The committee said staff members instead should use phrases such as "the war in Iraq," or "ongoing military operations throughout the world."
Iran, one of the countries the United States accuses of sponsoring terrorism, today ordered the release of 15 British sailors and marines held hostage in Tehran. The Iranian president said the hostages are being released as what he termed a gift to the people of Britain. Afterwards, in a ceremony designed for its maximum propaganda impact, the Iranian president met with some of those hostages.
Matthew Chance has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This was Ahmadinejad's day of grand gestures. First, he awarded a medal for bravery to the commander of Iranian troops who captured the Britons. Then, with a final dramatic flourish, he presented what he called his gift to their country.
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): And I announce their freedom and their return to the people of Britain.
CHANCE: Since their capture in disputed waters between Iraq and Iran, the British personnel have been paraded on Iranian television, making staged confessions at odds with the official British line. The most recent images show the captives looking relaxed, evidence, according to the Iranians, the statements were not made under duress.
Reaction from the British prime minister was relieved. His government's low-key diplomacy apparently paying off.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Throughout, we have taken the measured approach. Firm but calm. Not negotiating, but not confronting either.
CHANCE: It was far from calm in the pubs and bars, where friends and family of the captured Britons celebrated news of their freedom. And there are thanks all around these anxious days are finally drawing to an end.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cheers!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE: Well, Lou, within the last few minutes the British Foreign Office has confirmed to us that for the first time in nearly two weeks, there's been consular access to these 15 captured British sailors and marines. In fact, they've met Britain's ambassador in Iran, another positive sign that they could be on their way home very soon -- Lou.
DOBBS: Matthew, good news indeed.
Matthew Chance.
Thank you very much.
Iranian officials today insisted that no American citizens are missing in Iran. Iran said the United States is raising questions about a missing American for what it called political purposes. U.S. officials say former FBI agent Robert Levinson disappeared on Kish Island in southern Iran early last month.
Still ahead here, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton will join me to discuss Iran's political and military strategy.
And a rising number of state lawmakers have now had a belly full of White House efforts to form what they call a North American union without the approval of Congress or voters or anyone else that we can find.
We'll have that special report.
And federal agents raid another corporation employing illegal aliens, but are those raids having any affect on our illegal immigration and border security crisis?
We'll have the report, a great deal more straight ahead. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Tonight, more states are moving in the fight against the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership. Officially, the SPP aims to integrate the economies of Mexico, Canada and the United States by the year 2010. This is, no matter what anyone tells you, a very serious and unprecedented challenge to the sovereignty of this nation. And it's happening utterly without the knowledge and certainly without the approval of the American people or the consent of Congress.
Christine Romans reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A sweeping partnership forged here two years ago is hitting resistance in state houses across America, the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Dozens of working groups at the highest levels of government, along with the most powerful companies in the hemisphere, have been meeting "to harmonize regulations."
BILL KETRON (R), TENNESSEE STATE SENATE: I don't want to go any further until our congressional delegation of all Congress and all the United States, the governing body of this country, has the opportunity to put it on the top of the table and see if it meets the litmus test of whether or not we want to be part of the North American partnership.
ROMANS: State Senator Ketron is from Tennessee, one of 14 state legislatures considering opposition to the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Many lawmakers see an effort to break down borders and regulatory difference between the three countries the first step toward a North American union.
According to the official government Web site, "The SPP does not attempt to modify our sovereignty or currency or change the American system of government designed by our founding fathers." Supporters envision a safer and more efficient North America, better positioned to compete with China and India. The scope of bureaucratic cooperation between three very different countries is unprecedented on the environment, transportation, food safety, the energy grid, immigration, and border security.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Border security advocates say the Bush administration is not serious about border security because it gets in the way of his aggressive plan to erase borders between the countries at the behest, Lou, of the big businesses, the big companies that are advising this entire process.
DOBBS: To say that the Bush administration is not serious about border security, let's be clear. The border is absolutely meant to be wide open, as far as this administration is concerned. The secretary of Homeland Security has made that clear in memoranda, in his statements, that there will be no -- no effort, no real significant effort put forward to secure our borders, five and a half years after 9/11.
What I can't understand is why more Americans aren't asking why we have troops dying in Iraq, we have our troops posted in 40 nations around the world in the war on terror, but this government, this administration, refuses to secure our borders and our ports five and a half years after September 11th.
ROMANS: This government and the people who are the proponents of the SPP, they are careful to say they want safe and efficient movement of people and goods across borders. They put the word "safe" first.
DOBBS: Well, they're lying, and they are underhanded, and they are not working in the interest of the United States. And it's that straightforward, that clear.
When you hear words like "harmonize" three nations, like Mexico, Canada, and the United States, what in the world does harmonize mean? It means nothing, of course, but it does mean that our sovereignty is under direct attack. Not publicly and not straightforwardly, and our Congress is at this point still, with a few exceptions in Congress, still indifferent to this outright assault on our sovereignty.
Christine, thank you very much.
Christine Romans.
Ninety-seven members of Congress want House Speaker Pelosi to oppose giving amnesty to illegal aliens. Congressman Brian Bilbray, who chairs the International Reform Caucus and is one of the authors of the letter, said, "Rewarding illegal behavior sends the wrong message to millions of people waiting their turn to legally come to the United States."
What part of illegal don't people understand?
Well, apparently close to 100 congressmen do understand. Ninety- five Republicans and two Democrats signing on to that letter.
Federal immigration officials today carried out another in a series of workplace enforcement actions and raids, all part of an effort by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold some employers accountable for their hiring of illegal aliens.
But as Kitty Pilgrim now reports, their initiative may not be having a significant impact on illegal alien workers and the businesses hiring them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A middle-of-the- night immigration raid in Beardstown, Illinois, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. At the Cargill meat packing plant, the after hours cleaning crew was running a criminal illegal immigration ring.
Cargill says they cooperated with the federal officials in the raid. The offender, the cleaning service, QSI. Sixty-two illegal aliens were arrested, 13 on criminal charges of identity theft, using stolen documents from U.S. citizens.
Federal officials say they are taking a tougher approach.
ELISSA BROWN, ICE SPEC. AGENT-IN-CHARGE: In the old INS days we would give a penalty of some small fine. The interior enforcement strategy for ICE now is to proceed against these companies criminally. We're hoping these type of enforcement actions will somehow be a deterrent.
PILGRIM: This raid comes three and a half months after the biggest federal illegal alien sweep ever on Swift meat packing plants, which netted more than 1,200 illegal alien workers. At that time, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warned there would be more raids. "Once we enforce the law, that is going to have a ripple effect."
But that ripple is faint. Last year, 4,383 illegal aliens were arrested in work site raids, but there are as many as 20 million illegal aliens currently in the country. At least 350,000 working in the maintenance industry alone.
REP. BRIAN BILBRAY (R), CALIFORNIA: I think it sends a proper signal that just because you got across the border and made it 100 yards north of the frontier, you are not free to continue to break the law and flaunt the law by working illegally in the United States.
PILGRIM: But against millions of illegal aliens, 5,500 federal immigration agents are badly outnumbered.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Some legislators like Bilbray say the raids are necessary, but more are needed. Also necessary, legislation requiring tamper-proof Social Security cards, and also persistent crackdowns on employers who violate the law -- Lou.
DOBBS: Kitty, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Viewers of this broadcast are well aware of the case of two former Border Patrol agents serving long prison sentences for wounding an illegal alien drug smuggler in Texas who testified against those agents at the behest of the U.S. attorney, Johnny Sutton, who gave that drug smuggler immunity.
Tonight we want to update you on another case that we have been reporting on with some parallels. This case involves two illegal aliens injured when a deputy sheriff shot at the tires of their van after they had tried to run him over.
The illegal aliens threatened to sue, but they had settled for $100,000. Deputy Gilmer Hernandez (ph) was convicted of violating the civil rights of the illegal aliens and was sentenced to prison.
The case was prosecuted by U.S. attorney Johnny Sutton. The same U.S. attorney who prosecuted former patrol agents Ramos and Compean.
In this case, the deputy said the van was trying to run him down after a traffic stop. He then fired on the tires of that van in order to save his life. He was sentenced to a year in prison -- a year and a day, in fact.
We talked with the sheriff's office in Texas tonight. Sheriff Don Lutsinger (ph) isn't happy about settling with those illegal aliens. The sheriff says the insurance carrier strongly recommend the county accept the settlement, and that's what they did.
Coming up next, health officials link more sick pets to the poisoned pet foods. We'll have that story. And a naturalized U.S. citizen stands accused of passing technology secrets to communist China. Defense attorneys today challenged the government's case.
Casey Wian will have the report.
And senators Clinton and Obama in a photo finish when it comes to raising millions of dollars, but who, who has the real political clout?
We'll have that special report, a great deal more, straight ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Drama in the courtroom today as attorneys for accused spy and naturalized U.S. citizen Chi Mak tried to show that their client was not stealing U.S. military secrets to give to the Chinese government.
But as Casey Wian reports, the defense attorneys didn't do well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A dramatic conflict erupted in the trial of naturalized U.S. citizen Chi Mak, an alleged spy for the communist Chinese government. The former defense industry power engineer is accused of stealing military secrets and giving them to China.
Wednesday, Mak's defense team questioned an FBI agent about the apparent absence of Mak's handwriting on documents found in his tiny southern California home. Prosecutors later suggested Mak was intentionally disguising his handwriting while getting a sample to investigators.
Defense attorney Marilyn Bednarski leapt from her chair, angrily gestured to prosecutor Gregory Staples (ph), and shouted an objection to the judge. Judge Cormac Carney then excused the jury from the courtroom and admonished the defense attorney to refrain from being so dramatic.
The agent's testimony also focused on other items found in Mak's home, including a hand-drawn map of the Knolls nuclear power facility in New York, showing a classified section of the plant, and four tasking lists detailing sensitive military programs prosecutors say matched documents also found in Mak's home and in his trash.
MICHAEL PILLSBURY, PENTAGON CONSULTANT: Their contention in the trial is that he was an agent of the Chinese government without registering, which is a crime in and of itself, because he was seeking documents that match the taskings on the four lists.
WIAN: In each case the defense tried to portray the discoveries as innocuous.
MARILYN BEDNARSKI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There are people in China who are involved in academics and involved in trade. The power engineering has applicability to utilities and to commercial ventures. There are any number of uses that people could put these things to.
I'm not an engineer, but to think that it's only usable in the military is very, very narrow.
WIAN: But in each case the prosecution offered evidence and testimony that Mak's actions were consistent with those of a man secretly transferring sensitive military technology to China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: Defense attorneys claim the prosecution is trying to scare the public by including those maps of the nuclear power plant in the case. The defense claims that Mak only drew the maps because he and colleagues got lost on a previous trip to the nuclear power facility in New York -- Lou.
DOBBS: How long is this trial expected to take, Casey?
WIAN: Four to six weeks. There is a lot of evidence in this trial. There are reams and reams of documents in this case.
Investigators spent a couple of years following Mr. Mak. They had cameras in two places inside his home. They had microphones in his home, cameras in his car, microphones in his car. His brother was under surveillance, other family members.
The trial is going to last a long time -- Lou.
DOBBS: And Casey, the prosecution, the U.S. government in this case, to what degree -- how much technology, how many military secrets do they believe that Chi Mak and his associates managed to get to the Chinese government?
WIAN: Officially, the prosecution won't comment on the case, but their documents filed in the case show a lot of transfers, a lot of suspicious transfers. He is only charged with a couple of items being transferred, but they found evidence of these tasking lists and documents in his home that may have been transferred to the Chinese government for years and years -- Lou.
DOBBS: Casey, thank you very much.
Casey Wian from Santa Ana.
Almost half a million above-ground pool ladders manufactured in communist China have been recalled over safety concerns. The Consumer Product Safety Commission today announced the recall, saying the ladder steps could break if they are installed improperly. The ladders were sold at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Target stores.
Of the 94 product recalls announced by the safety commission so far this year, almost two-thirds of them, two-thirds of them, products manufactured in China. Many of those recalled products were children's clothing and toys.
There's new information tonight about the recall of pet food because of poison wheat gluten originating in China. Oregon health officials now suspect 38 pets dead in that state because of the poisoned pet food. The Food and Drug Administration says Menu Foods has reported 14 deaths to the agency so far this year.
And we have asked both the FDA and the American Veterinary Medical Association how pet owners can protect their animals. Both organizations say owners should check pet food ingredients.
Animal proteins such as chicken, beef or fish should be among the first ingredients listed on any pet food that you look at. They say stay away from products that list vegetable, wheat, or grain, or animal byproducts among the top ingredients.
Any pet food that you buy should have an expiration date and contact information on the label. And, of course, if your pet appears to be sick, take it to your vet immediately.
Now, we're putting this information up on our Web site as well so that you can look at the ingredients that are recommended. The FDA, the veterinary association, they're all very leery of saying which pet foods are safe out loud because it all could change very quickly, but these ingredients, they do recommend you look at them, and that is your best guide.
So we'll have them up on our Web site, loudobbs.com, so that you can take a look at them and make a determination.
Coming up next here, the election battle between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama. Who is winning in the fight to raise money for the presidential contest?
Well, it is no small sum. We'll have the latest numbers for you.
And new evidence that corporate elites are abusing our visa program to import, you guessed it, more cheap labor to replace American workers.
That special report upcoming.
And former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, joins me to give his assessment of U.S. strategy in the Middle East and the release of those British hostages by Iran.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Tommy Thompson has officially joined the crowded Republican field seeking the 2008 presidential GOP nomination.
Thompson is a former Wisconsin governor. He served in the Bush cabinet as secretary of health and human services, and in a new CNN- WMUR New Hampshire poll out today, Thompson is finishing in sixth place with 2 percent of the vote if the Republican primary, of course, were held today.
That same polls shows the Republican presidential contest in New Hampshire, of course, far from settled. As Bill Schneider now reports, it isn't clear who's actually leading this crowded field.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fundraising totals for the first quarter are in. Among the six leading candidates in both parties, John McCain came in last.
David Winston, an unaffiliated Republican consultant, offered this assessment.
DAVID WINSTON, REPUBLICAN POLITICAL CONSULTANT: And his campaign has floundered and it's struggling, and the amount of money he raised in contrast to other Republicans reflects that.
SCHNEIDER: McCain is in a dead heat with Rudy Giuliani in New Hampshire, according to a CNN- WMUR presidential primary poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire.
McCain beat George W. Bush in New Hampshire in 2000. He can't afford to lose New Hampshire this time.
Republicans have a long history of nominating the heir apparent. Ronald Reagan in 1980. George Bush in 1988. Bob Dole in 1996. George W. Bush in 2000. This time McCain has done everything he can to make himself look like the heir apparent, so what's the problem?
WINSTON: His threat is he's potentially creating two McCains. The McCain of 2000, and then this McCain who will do anything to get elected in 2008. And the personality that the voters liked was the McCain in 2000.
SCHNEIDER: Example: McCain is rebooting his fundraising effort by embracing the big money techniques used by George W. Bush, but McCain has always said he wants to curb the influence of big money in politics.
Example: McCain has embraced President Bush's war policy after the voters repudiated it last November.
This time it's not clear Republicans are looking to nominate the heir apparent. Fewer than one-quarter of New Hampshire Republicans say they strongly approve of President Bush's job performance. More than a third disapprove.
Both Giuliani and Romney are Washington outsiders. They can run as candidates of change, and McCain...
WINSTON: He looks like the candidate of the past. Not the candidate of the future. (END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: McCain remains a popular figure. The poll shows a ten-point increase in his favorability rating among New Hampshire Republicans.
Now, the McCain campaign told CNN they believed that Giuliani, who has never run for national office before is getting a bounce from his celebrity and from his announcement.
McCain will officially announce his candidacy with a national tour beginning April 25 and try to get his own bounce -- Lou.
DOBBS: You know, all this talk about bounces and poll numbers, and I know we're going to be in for it for the next year and a half, but I would sure like to hear what these folks think about really critical issues for working men and women in this country, their families, the middle class, the national interests, national security.
What do you think about that idea?
SCHNEIDER: It's a wonderful idea, and you're going to have an opportunity, because the debates -- the campaign has started sooner than ever, but the debates are going to start sooner than ever. I think there's one scheduled...
DOBBS: Are we going to have a real debate or there will be some more of that plastic controlled nonsense that passes for a debate?
SCHNEIDER: Well, we try to have a real debate, and CNN is going to sponsor debates among both Democrats and Republicans separately, of course, in June in New Hampshire. The problem is when you've got 10 candidates running, it's a very crowded stage, and you have to give them all an equal chance.
DOBBS: Well, yes, you do, but maybe we just need a little more time so we can get to the guts of the matter.
SCHNEIDER: Good idea.
DOBBS: Well, I'll tell you what. You know what? Instead of looking upon the favor and fortune of others, you know what I'll do here tonight, Bill -- see what you think of this idea.
SCHNEIDER: OK.
DOBBS: I'll offer every presidential candidate three minutes of uninterrupted air time on this broadcast if they will deal with the critical issues of national security and foreign policy, fiscal policy, trade policy, illegal immigration, and border security, and public education and health care.
If they'll deal with that, I'll be glad to devote three minutes of our program, uninterrupted, to every candidate who wants to deal with those issues that are, in my judgment, at least critically important. What do you think of that idea?
SCHNEIDER: I think it's a good idea. I think the candidates may take you up on it, but the first question they'll say is do you want me to address all those issues in three minutes?
DOBBS: Oh, no, no. We're going to give them time. We're talking about a long run here.
SCHNEIDER: Well, that's right. Well, you have a long time with this endless campaign now. It's almost a year before anybody votes.
DOBBS: Yes.
SCHNEIDER: They'll have lots of time to talk about lots of those issues.
DOBBS: All right, Bill. Get on the phone. Talk to those folks.
SCHNEIDER: OK.
DOBBS: Tell them they've got an offer, one that I would love to see them accept. I'm sure that most Americans would love to see them accept, as well.
SCHNEIDER: We will follow-up on that, I assure you.
DOBBS: Good man. Bill, thank you very much. Bill Schneider.
In the race to fill Democratic war chests, Barack Obama today released his fundraising totals for the first quarter, and are you ready? The senator raised $25 million, just a million dollars short of frontrunner Senator Hillary Clinton.
Candy Crowley is in Portsmouth, New Hampshire tonight.
Candy, these are impressive numbers. What do they mean?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, politically, they means that it's going to be no cakewalk here. As you know, when you're the frontrunner, as Hillary Clinton still is in the polls, if not in the fundraising, what happens is you want to create this sense of inevitability, that you can raise more money than anyone, that your poll numbers will never go down, that you're going to be the nominee.
That's gone now because Barack Obama has proven he's a power player, so what you've done is shake up the race in this sense. It is no longer sort of seen as Hillary Clinton's race. It is now seen as a real race to the end, which, as you pointed out, is a far piece away.
DOBBS: What's the reaction from the Clinton campaign?
CROWLEY: Well, the Clinton campaign says, "Listen, nobody over here is shattered. Nobody over here is getting nervous. We still think Hillary Clinton is going to be the candidate. We still believe she has the strongest policies, the strongest ideas, the best experience."
So they think that the fundraising numbers just show how energized the Democratic Party is, because they've been able to raise, really, cumulatively so much more money than the Republicans have on their side.
DOBBS: You know, as I was saying to Bill Schneider, one of the things I -- as important as all the horse race stuff is and the polls and all of that, I'd sure like to hear a lot more from these folks about what the heck they're actually thinking about the future of the country.
CROWLEY: I think you're right, and I think, you know, in some of these town hall meetings, you know, people ask the very questions on the topics you were talking about to Bill, and they do ask them. I would say that at this point what you get are largely generalities. The main...
DOBBS: Isn't that pathetic? Isn't that pathetic? We've been covering politics a long time.
CROWLEY: Long time.
DOBBS: Folks say that they think that they are God's gift to the White House and that the rest of us should agree with them. Don't you think they ought to be a little doggone specific?
CROWLEY: Well, and they say they're going to be. That's all I can tell you at this point. They sort of look at it and say, listen, we are ten months out from the first primary, the first caucus in Iowa, and if we do that now, people are not listening.
But I'll tell you the other thing, as you know full well. You put out a very specific program out there, and everybody aims at it. So there's some of that at play, as well.
DOBBS: Boy, the poor darlings. We wouldn't want anybody being critical, would we?
CROWLEY: No controversy, no.
DOBBS: Candy Crowley, thanks for being with us in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
And tell them about that offer. Three minutes, uninterrupted, if they'll talk about our issues...
CROWLEY: I promise.
DOBBS: ... and actually tell our folks what the heck they're thinking.
CROWLEY: OK. It's a deal. I'll tell them.
DOBBS: You got it. Tonight's poll question, do you believe that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's meeting with President Assad of Syria was appropriate? Yes or no. Please cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll have the results upcoming.
Tonight in the continuous assault against our middle class, more proof that business is flagrantly abusing America's visa program to replace hard-working Americans with cheaper foreign workers.
Now, everybody says they don't do that. You're going to hear differently here tonight.
U.S. citizen and immigration sources say that big business snatched up its annual quota of 85,000 foreign worker visas in just one day earlier this week.
Up next America faces urgent challenges abroad. Economically, politically, militarily. What kind of foreign policy is required to meet these challenges? It may not be the one we're pursuing. I'll be joined by the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He has some answers for us. John Bolton will be here next.
And whose America is it anyway? A veteran journalist says it's certainly not the people's America, especially since the media isn't telling the public about one critically important story, which is about repeated and consistent efforts by big business and our political and business academic elites to undermine this nation's sovereignty. Stay with us.
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DOBBS: The Iranian president today declared Iran will release 15 British sailors and marines taken hostage almost two weeks ago. The United States government welcoming the announcement, of course.
But the State Department said Iran must stop enriching uranium if Tehran wants to improve relations with this country.
Joining me now former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Mr. Ambassador, good to have you with us.
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Glad to be back.
DOBBS: Are you surprised those -- those hostages were released?
BOLTON: Well, I think Iran has come out of this on top yet again. They get the credit for releasing the hostages. They did it unilaterally, as well. I think it shows Ahmadinejad was on top of the situation right from the beginning.
And it's bad news for us on the nuclear weapons program, because it shows they can do outrageous things, and they don't get pushback from at least the Brits and the Europeans, more generally. DOBBS: Well, you know, more specifically, Tony Blair said there's no ill -- there are no ill will, no hard feelings here. Thanks for returning the folks that you took -- you took hostage.
I mean, the United States is starting to look like in foreign policy -- forgive me, Ambassador, because I know you are part of this administration. The United States government is starting to look like a bunch of bumbling idiots.
We've been in a protracted war in Iraq, a nation of 25 million people against unorganized forces for the -- for more than four years now without succeeding in achieving our goals.
We are dealing with Iran, a nation of twice that size, of course, but, frankly, we're being outwitted on just about every front. Has somebody dropped the grade point average requirements for State Department and national security personnel?
BOLTON: Well, I think -- I think there's a lot of risk out there. I don't think there's any question about it. And I think the real risks come from Iran and North Korea, although our focus is on Iraq, because of the obvious situation there.
Long-term, Iran and North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons is a greater danger for the United States and something this administration really does need to deal with.
DOBBS: This administration is confronted with a number of challenges, obviously, and you in your service to this country are dealing with some of those challenges.
North Korea is, it is clear now, will miss its mid-April deadline, and it will miss -- and the future of those six-party talks seems to be open-ended, and it's unclear what direct talks could be possible.
What is your expectation in terms of North Korea?
BOLTON: Look, North Korea, after it negotiates an agreement and signs it, then says to itself now it's time to start renegotiating it. And that's what they're going to do.
I still hope the president will seize what I think is going to be North Korea missing even this first simple deadline. I hope the president will seize the opportunity to say North Korea is not serious about this, has no intention of meeting its commitments, and repudiate the deal.
I think it's just a clear mistake to think that North Korea is ever voluntarily going to give up its nuclear weapons, and I'd say the same about Iran.
DOBBS: And not doing so voluntarily. It is in a region dominated, certainly, in terms of mass, by communist China. The United States has significant military influence, of course, in Asia, but what are the options available to the United States? BOLTON: Well, I think we've got a lot of options, but China is one that we have not really leaned on. If China put more pressure on North Korea, such as by cutting off its supply of oil. It supplies 80 percent to 90 percent of North Korea's oil. You'd have a dramatically different view in Pyongyang.
China has not been willing to do that, because it's afraid of collapsing the regime itself in Pyongyang.
DOBBS: At what point -- there was, as you well know, a famous article written 30 years ago in "Foreign Affairs" that -- suggesting that trade policy is foreign policy.
Is it your judgment that we have now, at long last, put that to the lie for what it was and that we have to have a robust foreign policy that is rationale, coherent, cohesive globally?
BOLTON: Look, I think that's why the next election in 2008 is going to be so consequential for this country. National security issues, the threat posed by countries seeking nuclear weapons, the threats they pose to our interests all the way around the world, need to be dealt with. We need a strong response to that. We need a strong defense of American interests.
DOBBS: Ambassador John Bolton, as always, good to have you with us.
BOLTON: Glad to be here.
DOBBS: A reminder now to vote in our poll tonight. Do you believe that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's meeting with President Assad of Syria was appropriate? Yes or no. Cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll have the results for you here in just a moment.
Up next, a veteran journalist asks why no one is reporting about a dangerous plan to undermine our constitutional -- our Constitution, and our national independence and our sovereignty. Stay with us.
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DOBBS: We talk a lot on this broadcast about Americans who have had a belly full with various government responses to issues. Well, a group in Vermont has really had a belly full and wants Vermont, in fact, to secede and perform -- form its own republic.
The group is known as the Second Vermont Republic and says it's opposed what it calls the tyranny of multinational corporations and the U.S. government.
It also points out that the state of Vermont was independent once before. Vermont seceded from the British Empire in 1777 and remained free until 1791. No other state governed itself longer before joining the union.
More now on one of our earlier reports: the unprecedented attack on this nation's sovereignty, an assault that is deceptively called the Security and Prosperity Partnership. It aims to integrate the economies of Mexico, Canada, and the United States by the year 2010.
You may be thinking, wait a minute, you didn't approve that. You would be right. No one else has either. Why is no one outside this broadcast reporting this in the mainstream media?
A veteran journalist is asking the very same question. We asked Cliff Kincaid, editor of the "Accuracy in Media Report", to join us here tonight to discuss just exactly that.
Cliff, good to have you here.
CLIFF KINCAID, EDITOR, "ACCURACY IN MEDIA REPORT": Great to be with you, Lou.
DOBBS: It is, I think -- it's clear that you're as astounded as I am and as my colleagues are that more people in the media are not focusing on this issue.
KINCAID: I think the issue of sovereignty is, frankly, just not as sexy as a former "Playboy" Playmate, for example, or the latest missing person.
DOBBS: Right.
KINCAID: But it involves the future of our country.
Lou, I have been here in Washington, D.C., for almost 30 years, and this story about the submersion of U.S. sovereignty to this emerging trilateral entity, the North American community, the North American union, whatever you want to call it, seems to be the story of our lifetimes. It is simply incredible.
I've seen literature out of the people behind us who even envision a North American Supreme Court with the ability to overrule our own Supreme Court.
DOBBS: You know, we reported here earlier tonight that some of the states, now 14 of them, are preparing to fight back against this North American union, Security and Prosperity Partnership, whatever you want to call it. Why in the world, in your judgment, is -- there are a few, a handful of people in Congress, beginning to take action.
But why isn't this something that galvanizes the United States Congress and both political parties?
KINCAID: Well, I think both political parties are part of the process. As you know, this started, really, under President Clinton. It follows from NAFTA. It's been continued and expanded under President Bush to the Security and Prosperity Partnership. So you have a bipartisan consensus in favor of it.
The Democrats like eliminating the borders between the three countries because they see potential voters coming out of Mexico.
The Republicans see benefits because big business, one of their big constituencies, sees cheap labor and resources from Mexico and even Canada to be exploited.
So both parties, in other words, Lou, have a vested interest in keeping this all hushed up.
DOBBS: In the piece you wrote in "Accuracy in Media", I want to quote from it for the benefit of our audience, and I have to believe that some -- a few people in our audience may be thinking that you and I are talking about some fictional plot, but let me assure everyone this is very real. All too real.
And this is what you wrote, "The academic literature alluded to how the three countries of North America are polarized on sensitive cultural issues, such as the death penalty, abortion, and gay marriage, and that it might take a long time to -- here's that word again -- harmonize their legal systems on such matters."
That's incredible.
KINCAID: Well, because what the people behind this plan see is not only bringing the three countries together economically, but legally, politically, and culturally. And that means here in the U.S., we would have to accept the more liberal laws such as acceptance of gay marriage in Canada.
This is where they're going with this. It really is true integration of the three countries at all levels.
I got that information, by the way, by attending a conference here in Washington sponsored by the Center for North American Studies where it was all devoted to developing a North American legal system.
DOBBS: Again, an effort that is supported by both proximity and interest by the Council of Foreign Relations and a host of others. And we have been reporting here on the high level meetings amongst the bureaucracy, academic, political, business elites in which, for some reason, we can't seem to gain admission to some of those higher level meetings.
We're glad you were there. We're glad that you were paying great attention to this. We hope many more will follow.
Cliff Kincaid, thank you very much.
KINCAID: My pleasure.
DOBBS: Still ahead, the results of our poll tonight. How many of you think speaker Pelosi's meeting with President Assad was appropriate or inappropriate? And we'll also have some of your thoughts. Please stay with us.
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DOBBS: We want to update you again on the new information about the recall of that tainted pet food, tainted because of poisoned wheat gluten originating in China. Oregon health officials now suspect 38 pets alone in that state died because of the poisoned pet food. The Food and Drug Administration says Menu Foods has reported 14 deaths to the agency so far.
It is clear that this -- the count on this is just way low.
We've asked both the FDA and the American Veterinary Medical Association how pet owners can protect your animals, and we put that information on our web site. Go to LouDobbs.com.
And, of course, if your pet appears to be sick, take it to the vet immediately. But I think you'll find some of those ingredients helpful -- that list of ingredients.
The results of our poll tonight: 72 percent of you say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's meeting with President Assad of Syria was indeed appropriate.
Let's take a look at some of your thoughts.
Robert in Illinois said, "I don't know why everyone is so upset by the independent contractor, Chi Mak, sharing secrets with China. After all, that's what this administration is all about. Their message is very clear. Everything is for sale."
And Darlene in Michigan: "I don't see why that engineer, Chi Mak, worked so hard to get secret documents out of the United States. All he had to do was ask President Bush, and he would have given him everything without any questions asked."
We thank you for being with us tonight. Please send us your thoughts to LouDobbs.com. We'll be here tomorrow. We hope you will, too. Thanks for watching tonight. Good night from New York.
"THE SITUATION ROOM" begins now with Suzanne Malveaux sitting in for Wolf Blitzer -- Suzanne.
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