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Lou Dobbs Tonight
New Details About Virginia Tech Shooter; Baghdad Bombings
Aired April 18, 2007 - 17:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, HOST: Tonight, police say they have what could be critical new information about the gunman responsible for the Virginia Tech rampage. We've learned that a court order declared the gunman to be an imminent danger to himself and others nearly a year and a half ago.
We'll have complete coverage.
Also, the worst day of violence in Iraq in weeks. Nearly 200 people killed in a wave of bomb attacks in Baghdad.
We'll have a special report from the Iraqi capital.
And the commander of our troops in the Middle East, Admiral William Fallon, now says the United States is losing ground in Iraq each day. Has the United States lost this war?
We'll have all of that, all of the day's news, and much more from Blacksburg, Virginia, straight ahead here tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, news, debate and opinion for Wednesday, April 18th.
Live in New York, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everyone.
Critical new developments tonight in the investigation of the Virginia Tech massacre. Police have received disturbing writings and images from the gunman that were apparently mailed in the two-hour gap between the first shooting and the second.
CNN has also learned that the shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, was declared mentally ill and an imminent danger to himself in December of 2005. He was admitted to the hospital for treatment as an involuntary patient.
Brian Todd now reports from Virginia Tech on the latest information about the gunman's mental history.
Brianna Keilar reports on new details tonight about accusations the gunman had stalked women at Virginia Tech in the past.
And John Zarrella reports on the latest condition of victims of the shootings who remain in the hospital.
But first, Brian Todd with the latest from the Virginia Tech campus -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, we've gotten this document that speaks to the mental health of the suspect, Cho Seung-Hui. This is a document for his admission to a mental health facility, signed by a special justice named Paul Barnett on December 14, 2005.
The operative phrase here, boxes that are checked off on this final order, states that Cho Seung-Hui "presents an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness." There is another box checked off that says, "The alternatives to involuntary hospitalization and treatment were investigated and were deemed suitable."
A key document here, essentially stating that Cho Seung-Hui was declared mentally ill by this circuit court and by the special justice, Paul Barnett, here in Blacksburg, Virginia. Excuse me, Mr. Barnett is in Christiansburg, Virginia, but he is the special justice that signed this order December 14, 2005, declaring Cho Seung-Hui mentally ill, and a box checked off saying that he presents an imminent danger to himself -- Lou.
DOBBS: Brian, any indication that anything was done after that? If he did represent a danger to himself and to others, is mentally ill, what was the response of the authorities?
TODD: Well, the authorities are not giving any details about the treatment. We asked about that repeatedly in a news conference today. They will not give any details about the treatment.
There is another entry in this same form, however, where the judge writes, "Court ordered patient to follow on recommended treatments." They're essentially telling him, follow up on recommended treatments. Not clear if Cho Seung-Hui did that or not.
DOBBS: Thank you very much.
Brian Todd from Virginia Tech's campus.
Killer Cho Seung-Hui apparently mailed a package of his writings, photographs and videos to NBC. NBC says it appears that Cho mailed that package between the first and the second shootings.
Brianna Keilar has our report -- Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Lou.
NBC News in New York says they did receive that package from Cho this morning. In a statement, here's what NBC News said in part. "The package included images, video and writings and appears to have been mailed between the two shootings. We are cooperating fully with the authorities."
We now know from NBC News, they say that the postmark was at 9:01 a.m. That was, of course, about an hour and 45 minutes after the report, the first 911 call from the first shooting, and about 45 minutes before the first reports of the second shooting.
NBC says it got in touch with the FBI and with NYPD, and state police say that authorities are in possession.
This, as you can see, is one of the images from this package that has been released. You can see Cho Seung-Hui there holding two guns. Apparently these are the two weapons, as I understand it, the Glock, as well as the Walther pistol, and state police say that authorities are in possession of the original items in this package.
Let's hear what they said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COL. STEVE FLAHERTY, VIRGINIA STATE POLICE: Well, the FBI are in the process of transporting those back. We've been working with the FBI, the ATF, Virginia Tech Police Department since discovering that this new evidence existed. This may be a very new critical component of this investigation. We are in the process right now of attempting to analyze and evaluate its -- its worth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Also today, we learned that Cho had been committed to a mental health facility in December of 2005 after two stalking incidents involving female students. In late November, the first one, Cho was contacting a female student in person and on the phone. She got police involved.
She said she didn't want to be in contact with Cho, but she didn't file charges. She said the contact was just annoying.
And then a little more than two weeks later, in mid-December, he was contacting another female student via text messaging. She also alerted police. Police obviously got involved, they talked to Cho, and it was that same day, December 13th of 2005, later that day, an acquaintance of Cho contacted police and said they were concerned he was suicidal.
At that point, police got involved again. They talked to Cho. They asked him to go see a counselor. He complied. And that is where they started their work towards taking the steps that got Cho committed to that mental health facility -- Lou.
DOBBS: Brianna, it is becoming increasingly clear that the first remarks on the part of officials and friends and fellow students that they could not have known are absolutely incorrect here, that there are warning signs throughout the past two years that this man was seriously troubled and a threat to himself and the community. It's remarkable.
KEILAR: There certainly were some warning signs, but at the same time, when you talk with people, sometimes they talk about 20/20 hindsight. We've heard from people who say they weren't surprised that this was Cho, but we've heard from other people who said, we just thought he was very bizarre and we didn't think that he would do anything like this.
DOBBS: Brianna, thank you very much. Brianna Keilar from the campus of Virginia Tech.
Fourteen of those wounded in the shootings remain hospitalized tonight. Earlier today, Virginia's governor, Tim Kaine, visited with them.
John Zarrella has our report -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, that's exactly right, about 10:30 this morning, Govern Kaine arrived here at Montgomery Regional Hospital, where he spent between 30 and 45 minutes visiting the families, and also visiting all eight of the students, and -- four young women and four young men.
And following his visit, the governor spoke with us here, and he said that he was absolutely amazed at the strength that each of these students was exhibiting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: The students are generally doing pretty well. Most of them were sitting up in bed smiling. A couple of them had walked for the very first time today.
Their parents and family have come. These are students from Virginia but also from -- you know, a number from Pennsylvania and Maryland who are here. Families had come a long way, but they're just very, very thankful that their children are alive and are recovering.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: Now, the governor said one thing that really impressed him was that the families and the students all wanted him to pass on that they are praying for and thinking of the families who lost loved ones in Monday's massacre.
There are, of course, eight students still here. Five of them remain in the intensive care unit, three are in the orthopedics unit. But all eight are listed in stable condition, and Lou, improving by the day -- Lou.
DOBBS: Well, that's wonderful news in a story that is absolutely brimming with tragedy and tremendous pain.
Thank you very much, John.
ZARRELLA: My pleasure.
DOBBS: John Zarrella at Montgomery Regional Hospital there.
Still ahead, a bleak warning today about the direction of war in Iraq from the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East. We'll have a special report for you.
And troubling new concerns about the Bush administration's commitment to increase the number of border patrol agents along our southern border.
And the Supreme Court making a historic ruling in the battle over abortion in this country. We'll have that story.
And new writings and images from the gunman in the Virginia Tech rampage. We'll have the special report on the critical new development in the investigation.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The top U.S. commander in the Middle East, Admiral William Fallon, today declared the United States loses ground in Iraq every day as insurgents and terrorists carry out major attacks. Insurgents in Baghdad today killed nearly 200 people in the biggest wave of attacks since the United States launched its new security plan, the so-called surge, two months ago.
Arwa Damon tonight reporting from Baghdad on the bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital.
Barbara Starr reporting from the Pentagon on Admiral Fallon's bleak assessment of this war.
And Ed Henry reporting from the White House on President Bush's refusal to compromise over his troop buildup in Iraq.
We turn first to Arwa Damon in Baghdad -- Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, today's violence never seemed to end. Attack after attack striking at the capital, Baghdad, and reinforcing to the Iraqi people the power of the insurgency.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON (voice over): Helplessly watching the rescue workers down below, all these women can do is grieve. The death toll from the Sadriya market bombing reached over 100 in just the first two hours after the attack. And continued to rise throughout the evening.
The Sadriya market, in a predominantly Shia area, was where a truck bomb killed over 130 Iraqis back in February. On Wednesday, the bombers picked another spot in the market and struck again.
Two hours earlier, just outside of the Shia slum of Sadr City, at a checkpoint set up as part of the Baghdad security plan, a car bomb exploded, killing over two dozen Iraqis. In other parts of town, a car bomb killed at least 11, a suicide bomber killed four policemen at a checkpoint, and a roadside bomb killed two people at a busy intersection.
Wednesday's carnage left many Iraqis wondering where to find that rule of law. The day's worst attacks happened in areas that were under Mehdi militia control, the militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr that agreed to temporarily lay down its arms, saying they would give the security plan a chance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON: Violence of this magnitude once again appears to render hollow the words of the coalition command and of the Iraqi government, both who insist that Iraqis will have control of their own country by the end of this year -- Lou.
DOBBS: Arwa Damon reporting from Baghdad.
Insurgents in Iraq are killing our troops now at the fastest rate since last December.
Sixty-five of our troops have been killed so far this month, 112 of our troops killed in the month of December. 3,312 of our troops have been killed since the beginning of the war. 24,476 of our troops wounded, 11,064 of them seriously.
Baghdad is now the deadliest region of Iraq for our troops. The rising number of our troops being killed in the Iraqi capital comes as our troops step up the offensive against insurgents in Baghdad.
The new commander of our troops in the Middle East, Admiral William Fallon, today said the United States loses ground in Iraq each and every day. Admiral Fallon acknowledged that the United States has what he called a lot of work to do, but he said he has some cause for optimism.
Barbara Starr reports now from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Across Baghdad, at least six bombings, one of the deadliest days in Iraq ever. Insurgents challenging the Bush administration's claim that the troop surge and security crackdown are working.
On Capitol Hill, the top U.S. commander for the region had a dire warning about Iraq.
ADM. WILLIAM FALLON, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: But I'll tell you, there's hardly a week goes by, certainly almost a day that doesn't go by, without some major event that also causes us to lose ground.
STARR: CNN has learned that at the most senior levels of the U.S. military there is growing concern that al Qaeda-backed suicide car bomb attacks simply may be unstoppable. Commanders also are worried that recent violence, including the bombing in the Green Zone and challenges by the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, may be a death blow to political progress.
FALLON: This is really the Iraqi leadership's major and potential last opportunity to really take this ball forward.
STARR: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, touring the Middle East, warned that getting Iraqis to take control of their future is one of the vital benchmarks to keeping the U.S. troop surge in place.
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I think that there is progress being made. I believe that faster progress can be made in the political reconciliation process in Iraq.
STARR: And while the administration continues to oppose congressional deadlines for withdrawing troops from Iraq, the secretary used the controversy in Washington to offer his own warning to the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
GATES: What I have said is that the debate in Congress, I think, has been helpful in demonstrating to the Iraqis that American patience is limited.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Now, Admiral Fallon did go on to say that there are some positive developments. Some of the sectarian killings are down, some of the violence out west in Al Anbar Province is down. But one of the key questions for U.S. commanders now is, can the deadly car bombs which are causing so much tragedy ever be stopped?
Lou.
DOBBS: It's hard to imagine even limited cause for optimism if the admiral says, as he did, that the United States is losing ground every day.
STARR: You bet, Lou. I mean, Admiral Fallon's comments, I have to tell you, caused some level of amazement here in the Pentagon, as people watched that hearing unfold and heard what he had to say.
He did say that he had some cause for optimism, but the bluntness of the second half of that sentence, losing ground every day, even the notion that the top commander for this war is expressing that level of concern is something that gets an awful lot of attention around here -- Lou.
DOBBS: As it well should.
Barbara, thank you very much.
Barbara Starr reporting from the Pentagon.
President Bush today declared our troops must have the money they need to complete their mission in Iraq. President Bush is demanding an emergency funding bill that does not set a deadline for withdrawal of our troops.
Ed Henry reports from the White House.
Ed, first, what is the White House saying tonight about the bleak assessment by Admiral Fallon and Secretary Gates on Iraq?
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, you can bet if a Democrat like Speaker Pelosi had said that the U.S. is losing ground in Iraq, the White House would be throwing around charges of defeatism. But instead, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino today tried to say that what Admiral Fallon said on Capitol Hill is consistent with what the White House and what the administration in general has been saying, even though the term "losing ground" is never used around here at all.
She also tried to turn this around a bit and tie it to that war funding fight that you noted by saying that the pressure in Iraq, the growing violence, shows why the job needs to be finished. Dana Perino saying that it's time to end the stalemate over war funding.
As you noted, the president hosted Democratic and Republican leaders here at the White House today to try to untie this knot. But really, no progress coming from this meeting.
You had Democrats like Harry Reid coming out afterwards saying that this war funding does need to be tied to benchmarks and timelines for withdrawing U.S. troops, while Republicans like John Boehner say that will not fly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: The president, with the legislation that we have that he will soon get, does more for the military than what he sent us. We believe he must search his soul, his conscience, and find out what is right for the American people. I believe signing this bill will do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: The real issue here, and the first big issue is whether in fact we're going to have a surrender date. And that's not going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, CNN has learned that the House and Senate are likely to vote on final passage for this war funding bill next Wednesday or Thursday. That would finally give the president a chance to veto it. And then we go to phase two of this showdown.
Now, there are some senior Democrats privately saying, look, they've already made their point, it's time to move on and fund the troops, and that perhaps they should send the president a so-called clean war funding bill, that it would not have a timeline. But I can tell you, there are other very senior Democrats saying no.
They believe they have the president much on the defensive now. And they believe they should be sending the president, after he vetoes the first bill, a bill with a timeline again and again. Make him veto it again and again, and try to force a change in policy -- Lou.
DOBBS: Ed, thank you.
Ed Henry from the White House.
A new CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll shows nearly two- thirds of all Americans support the Democratic point of view on the war in Iraq. The poll says 69 percent of voters believe the war is going badly for the United States. That is the most pessimistic view of the conduct of the war so far.
And the poll says only 29 percent of Americans believe the U.S. reinforcements in Iraq will help the United States achieve its goals. That poll taken over the past week before today's deadly bomb attacks in Baghdad.
Up next here, securing our borders. Why isn't the federal government able to hire more border patrol agents? We'll have that report.
And still ahead, chilling new information tonight from the campus killer himself. We'll have that live report as we return for more coverage from Blacksburg, Virginia.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: We'll be going back for more coverage of the rampage at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
But first, President Bush planning to boost the size of the U.S. Border Patrol by 6,000 agents by the end of next year. And at the same time, cut the number of National Guard troops deployed on our border with Mexico.
But as Casey Wian reports now, as is so often the case in the issue of border security, that is not happening.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When President Bush toured the border near Yuma, Arizona, last week, he made an unusual recruiting pitch.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know some people are wondering whether or not it makes sense to join the Border Patrol. My answer is, I've gotten to know the Border Patrol. I know the people serving in this fine agency. I would strongly urge our fellow citizens to take a look at this profession.
WIAN: The Border Patrol is holding job fairs nationwide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Border Patrol.
WIAN: And running television ads to meet the president's request to hire an additional 6,000 agents by the end of 2008.
But during the past six months, the Border Patrol has only grown by about 650 agents. T.J. BONNER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: It is a very difficult job to fill, even in the best of times. The pay is low. The working conditions are very difficult, compounded by the fact that it's not the attractive job that the recruitment videos portray it to be.
WIAN: Adding 6,000 agents to a 12,000-member force in two years would be unprecedented, and some say next to impossible. Border Patrol agent pay starts at around $40,000 a year.
The job can be monotonous. Agents often spending hours alone monitoring the border. But in an instant it can turn deadly.
The requirements are stiff. Applicants must know Spanish and immigration law. Only one in 30 applicants are hired.
A Government Accountability Office report last month raised concern about a shortage of veteran personnel to train the massive influx of new agents. The report also found the government spends about $188,000 to deploy each new Border Patrol agent, including recruitment, training and equipment. At that rate, the price tag for 6,000 agents will exceed $1 billion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: The Border Patrol says it remains on target to meet the president's goal and will double the number of recruits going through its academy starting this month. As a result, the National Guard, Lou, is already making plans to reduce the number of troops deployed on the southern border in a support role.
DOBBS: Well, that all sounds like interesting language that one might hear from a P.R. release. The fact is, 650 agents have been hired. Two pieces of legislation that require additional Border Patrol agents, and that isn't happening.
WIAN: It's not happening as fast as a lot of people would like to see it happen. One of the reasons is because the Border Patrol standards are so strict. And one hopes that they're not going to lower those standards significantly to increase the number of agents.
They've already increased the maximum age for a new Border Patrol recruit to 40. And the numbers haven't picked up significantly -- Lou.
DOBBS: Casey, thank you very much.
Casey Wian.
One person was killed, several others injured in a shootout between rival illegal aliens smuggling gangs in Houston. Police say the human smugglers in two separate trucks exchanged gunfire along a busy highway late last night. Investigators say that shootout may have been one smuggler's attempt to hijack the other's load of illegal aliens. And more border violence. Mexican police and troops are now at the scene of a tense hostage standoff at a hospital in Tijuana, Mexico.
Mexican government officials say armed men opened fire on the hospital, taking several people there hostage. The gunmen apparently trying to free a prisoner being treated at the hospital, a suspected member of one of Mexico's many drug cartels.
Up next here, the Supreme Court makes a ruling that could transform the national debate over abortion in this country. We'll have that report.
And Congress to introduce tighter restrictions on gun ownership after the Virginia Tech shootings. The debate is under way. We'll have a special comprehensive report on what the Second Amendment really means.
And we'll have the very latest for you on the gunman responsible for these shootings as we continue to learn more seemingly by the hour, and what police are saying about critical new developments in this case.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: New developments in the investigation into the shootings at Virginia Tech that have left 33 people, including the gunman, dead.
NBC has received correspondence, writings and photos from Cho Seung-Hui about those shootings, and those documents appear to have been mailed between the first and second attacks. The originals have been turned over to the FBI.
And Cho, accused of stalking two female students in 2005. He was sent for a psychiatric evaluation. And as CNN has learned, Cho was declared mentally ill and imminent danger to himself or others.
And 14 of those wounded in the shootings remain hospitalized tonight, as new details about the gunman emerge. In 2005, Cho was reported to campus police for stalking two female students. No charges were filed in either incident.
Details regarding Cho's confinement and other on-campus issues, difficult to obtain because of privacy law restrictions. FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, requires schools to have written permission from parents and patients before they release any information from a student's records. Those rights pass to the student when the student becomes 18.
We're learning more now about the 32 victims of Monday's massacre. Today more names of the victims were released.
Kitty Pilgrim has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So many young lives that now will not be lived.
Michael Pohle of Flemington, New Jersey, remembered by his high school as the ultimate student athlete. The biology major was due to graduate Virginia Tech in a few weeks.
Brian Bluhm was weeks away from finishing his masters at Virginia Tech. Lifelong Detroit Tigers fan, the Tigers and Kansas City Royals held a moment of silence for him at the Tuesday night game.
Nineteen-year-old Mary Read, new to campus this year. Families still can't comprehend how she died.
TED KUPPINGER, READ'S UNCLE: A car accident might be what you think you should worry about. You don't worry about a gunman in a mass killing at a college campus in the United States. It's just kind of unfathomable.
PILGRIM: Maxine Turner was in the fateful German class. The 22- year-old senior, chemical engineering student, had already accepted a job at a chemical engineering firm.
Jarrett Lane was the valedictorian of his high school in Narrows, Virginia. The civil engineering student was graduating in May and had already been accepted at the University of Florida for graduate work.
Students with international backgrounds. Freshman Henry Lee from Roanoke, Virginia, one of ten children of parents who emigrated from Asia when he was a young child.
A heartrending twist: many of the dead are part of a campus couple, such as teacher Christopher James Bishop, 35, was in the ill- fated German class. He was a Fulbright scholar. His love of language met him to meet his wife in Germany, who also teaches German at Virginia Tech.
Jocelyn Couture-Nowak, a French instructor. Her husband is head of the department of horticulture at Virginia Tech.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: One remarkable young woman was sophomore Leslie Sherman. She was a marathon runner. She was studying history, international studies. She spent last Thanksgiving break as a volunteer in New Orleans to help continue to clean up, Lou, after Hurricane Katrina.
DOBBS: As we learn more about all of these victims, the loss becomes even greater. And Kitty, thank you very much. Kitty Pilgrim.
The shootings at Virginia Tech have raised the politically charged issue, of course, of gun control. Virginia's governor, Tim Kaine, today said now is not the time to discuss his state's gun laws.
And as Dana Bash now reports, congressional Democrats are also trying to keep quiet about gun control.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the days after the 1999 Columbine High School shootings, Democrats were quick to demand tougher gun laws.
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: How many of our schools have to be desecrated by blood and bullets before the Senate and the House will act?
BASH: Congress did debate gun control then but failed to enact new laws.
Now another massacre. This time Democrats control Congress, but they're shying away from talk of gun control.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: I hope there's not a rush to do anything. We need to take a deep breath.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Console the families and the children who were affected there. That's what we're focusing on. That's all we're focusing on right now.
BASH: Democrats are reluctant to pass new gun restrictions, in part because public support for tightening gun laws has been steadily dropping. In 1990, 78 percent of Americans backed stricter gun laws. Now it's only 49 percent.
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Common sense, gun safety measures...
BASH: Democrats dropped gun control as a national issue after Al Gore was tagged as anti-gun in 2000, and lost big in the south and rural areas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a very strong Second Amendment guy.
BASH: Since then, Democrats won seats from North Carolina to Indiana, pro-gun candidates.
STU ROTHENBERG, ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT: So the Democratic Party has really tried to move to the center on some issues, and certainly with a lot of rhetoric. And picking up the gun issue again, I think many Democrats feel would push them further back to the left. They don't want to go there now.
BASH: Democrat Carolyn McCarthy ran for Congress after her husband was killed in 1993 by a Long Island railroad gunman.
CAROLYN MCCARTHY (D), NEW YORK: So this isn't just policy. This is personal for me.
BASH: She hopes this week's shootings will help her renew restrictions on weapons, limit clips to ten bullets in 9 millimeter guns like the one used in Virginia. But McCarthy says even that will be tough.
MCCARTHY: I have members that come up to me and say, Carolyn, I'd like to be with you, but I can't. I didn't come here to Congress to fight gun violence. I'll lose my reelection. You know what? They probably would.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: And hearings have already been scheduled on the issue of college campus safety. But several Democratic leadership sources tell CNN the chances of Congress actively pursuing new gun restrictions are slim to none -- Lou.
DOBBS: Dana, thank you very much.
Presidential candidates today not offering any further direction on their position on gun control. Substantiating the position taken there on Capitol Hill, as well. Thank you very much.
As public support for tighter gun control declines, studies show that there is no evidence that tighter gun control laws reduce gun deaths.
As Christine Romans reports now, the Second Amendment still stands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The law of the land, these 27 words: "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
But for years, gun control advocates and lawmakers have sought to restrict the Second Amendment, with gun-free zones, waiting periods, firearm registration and licensing, with the view that limiting access to guns would decrease crime.
JACOB SULLUM, "REASON" MAGAZINE: It's never been demonstrated in any conclusive way that gun control reduces crime. The rules disarm the law abiding people, but they leave the criminals free to attack their victims, who have no defense.
ROMANS: In fact, crime has been declining across the country, irrespective of the state gun laws, whether lenient or tough.
The CDC several years ago concluded there is no proof that gun laws reduce firearm violence. In fact, some of the most violent places have the toughest gun laws. Think Washington, D.C., and its 30-year ban on handguns.
The most restrictive gun laws in North America are in Mexico, where citizens are unarmed. Killer drug cartels are armed.
The Virginia Tech campus is a gun-free zone. That did not stop Cho Seung-Hui. But his actions inevitably are reviving the gun control debate.
A Virginia congressman.
REP. JIM MORAN (D), VIRGINIA: It is simply too easy to obtain a firearm.
ROMANS: New York's mayor.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: All mayors understand that taking illegal guns off the streets has nothing to do with the Second Amendment and everything to do with law enforcement.
ROMANS: Intense debate over the modern meaning of a 216-year-old right.
NICHOLAS JOHNSON, FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL: There is a split among the courts. There's a split among academics. But among American people, the majority of Americans believe that they have a right to arms.
ROMANS: An estimated 70 million Americans are gun owners.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: The courts most recently weighed in on gun control laws in Washington, D.C., just last month, striking down that city's 30- year-old handgun ban, ruling it unconstitutional -- unconstitutional, insisting that it is -- there is nothing ambiguous, Lou, about the Second Amendment.
DOBBS: And that is precisely the holding of the appellate courts.
It is a very difficult issue. And the reflex is understandable, the intensifying debate understandable. But at the same time, the failure to look at the broader violence on our college campuses, 1,100 suicides a year, 1,400 deaths from binge drinking, 70,000 rapes and sexual assaults, where is the clarion cry there? Because there is a broad scope of violence that is being altogether ignored.
Christine, thank you very much. Christine Romans.
A bill, by the way, in the Virginia legislature that would have given college students and university employees the right to carry handguns on campus never made it out of committee.
On Monday, the day of the shootings, House Bill 1572 was dropped during the first stage of the legislative review process in the Virginia House.
Most universities in Virginia prohibit anyone other than police from possessing a firearm on campus.
Up next here, the president's fast track authority to negotiate trade deals without interference from the United States Congress expires in June. President Bush wants it renewed. Democrats in Congress aren't so sure. Will they cave? We'll have a special report.
And shocking new details tonight about the Virginia Tech killer. We'll be discussing the aftermath of the massacre and what could have been done to prevent it with three of the nation's leading authorities in sociology and psychiatry. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: We'll have much more on the Virginia Tech massacre in just a moment. But first, these important news developments.
The Bush administration tonight is claiming a victory after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ban against controversial late-term abortions. In a 5-4 decision, the high court ruled that ban does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.
At least one Democrat tonight is criticizing the ruling. Senator Barbara Boxer of California says today's decision presents a serious threat to a woman's health.
Congress today took up a contentious issue that has affected the country's working middle class. Fast track trade authority allows the president to expedite trade deals through Congress.
But as Lisa Sylvester now reports, with billions of dollars in commerce, and millions of jobs at stake, resistance to renewing that fast track trade authority is rising.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imbalance partially...
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The senators all support trade with other countries. The disagreement is over the rules of trade.
SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: Should we compete with someone in Shinseng (ph), China, who's working for 20 cents an hour? Should we compete with someone who's working in an unsafe plant? Should we keep -- should we compete with a 12-year-old working for a dime an hour?
SYLVESTER: Countries like China have more than a labor advantage. They also are bending the rules in their favor, according to several who testified before Senate panels. Currency manipulation, tariffs to protect their home industries, government subsidies and trade agreements that give an edge to foreign companies.
One example of the unlevel playing field, a bilateral trade deal with China allows the Chinese to sell their cars in the United States with a 2.5 percent tariff. When Americans ship autos to China, the Chinese impose a 25 percent tariff.
LORI WALLACH, PUBLIC CITIZEN: This model has failed the U.S. national economy and the majority of its participants: workers, firms and farmers. SYLVESTER: But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce insists trade with China has been a good thing. It's kept prices low. The Chamber is urging Congress to renew trade promotion authority that will make it easier for the White House to forge even more trade agreements.
CHRISTOPHER WENK, U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Nationwide, our exports directly support 12 million good paying jobs, and indirectly support millions of other jobs. Imports keep inflation low and expand consumer choice and quality.
SYLVESTER: But the surge of imports over exports has fuelled a massive deficit that is now a whopping 6.5 percent of GDP.
LEO HINDERY, INTERMEDIA PARTNERS: We are the only nation acutely in deficit on trade.
SYLVESTER: A deficit that most economists say is not sustainable.
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SYLVESTER: Fast track, or trade promotion authority, expires the end of June. Some lawmakers prefer to not renew it at all. Others, like Representative Charlie Rangel, who chairs the committee overseeing trade, have signaled a willingness to pass promotional trade authority but only if it builds in certain labor and environmental protections -- Lou.
DOBBS: In other words, the Democrats could well be falling in line with the corporate America agenda of the Republican-led Congress of last year.
SYLVESTER: I think there are a few Democrats that you could probably put in that camp. But you do have senators like Byron Dorgan who are still holding firmly.
DOBBS: Sherrod Brown, Jim Webb and a host of others. Obviously, in my opinion, I hope there are a host of others, for the good of the working people in this country.
In a setback for the president, an unexpected change of direction on the part of an influential Democratic lawmaker, who now says fast track trade authority may not be renewed before it expires in June.
Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said environmental and labor provisions must be added. Among those provisions, stronger job creating tools for American workers. It's unspecified as to what that means.
Baucus had earlier been entirely supportive of the president's receiving renewal of fast track trade authority.
Coming up here next, chilling new details tonight about the troubled life of the Virginia Tech killer in the words of the killer himself. What insight into his motives? We'll be joined by a panel of experts to assess what should have been done and why what could have been done was not.
Stay with us.
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DOBBS: The Virginia Tech killer mailed a package to NBC containing writings, photographs and videos, the network saying the package appears to have been mailed between the first and the second attacks.
Mary Snow has the report for us -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, NBC just airing contents of that package. Some disturbing findings in there that include videotapes taken by the Virginia Tech gunman and some very chilling photographs. This is one of about 29 photos, 11 of them showing him pictured with guns.
He has rambling messages on this videotape, some of the quotes saying, "I did it. I had to. The time came. I did it." It is not clear when that was recorded.
NBC says it received the package today. But there was a time stamp on it of 9:01 a.m. on Monday morning. It was sent overnight mail. And that is what led NBC to say that this was sent between the two shootings at Virginia Tech on Monday.
The address to NBC was incorrect, and that is why NBC just received it today. It has handed the material over to the FBI and is still being analyzed. Some very disturbing contents in that package -- Lou.
DOBBS: Mary, thank you very much. Mary Snow. And we're going to be examining the meaning of this, both in terms of the psychology of an obscenely disturbed mind and a society trying to grapple with the answers.
Coming up here next, the top of the hour, we'll be in "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer as he continues our coverage -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to follow up on all of this, Lou.
Also, we have new details of the killer's past. Were there clues foreshadowing the tragedy that was unleashed here on the campus?
And grief-stricken parents sharing memories of their children. We have special interviews tonight that may move all of you to tears.
All that coming up. We're live here on the campus of Virginia Tech. Lou, much more coverage coming up at the top of the hour.
DOBBS: Wolf, thank you.
There are many, many unanswered questions, of course, about Cho Seung-Hui's motives and his background.
We're joined now by Professor Richard Arum, professor of sociology education at New York University; Professor Katherine Newman, professor of sociology at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, author of the book "Rampage"; and Dr. Paul Ragan, associate professor of psychiatry at Vanderbilt University.
Professor Ragan, I want to turn to you first. Those pictures, we have been talking here on this broadcast about this man's state of mind. The fact that he would bother to send those images to a television outlet, what does that tell you?
DR. PAUL RAGAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: Actually, I think we shouldn't be too surprised, because he certainly had a flare for the dramatic insofar as the plays that he wrote. And he was intelligent, and he figured out an even larger, more dramatic impact to make.
And I think it just shows that someone can have a psychosis, be very paranoid, and yet plan something like this.
DOBBS: To plan something like this. But it also suggests, does it not, that among our worst fears, is that the media had a strong influence in this man's troubled psyche?
RAGAN: Well, I think he used the media as far as trying to -- certainly he seemed like he was a lot more verbal on those videos than he ever was in his class or with his roommates. But I don't -- I wouldn't implicate the media at this point.
DOBBS: I'm not implicating them, I'm simply saying that taking the time between murdering 32 people...
RAGAN: Oh, absolutely.
DOBBS: Two, and then murdering 30 others, and committing suicide, for him to take the time to do this, it would seem to have a strong presence in his psyche.
RAGAN: Well, absolutely. And he clearly knew that this would hit the television station after his death. So he knew he was going to have an effect -- continued effect even after his death.
DOBBS: Professor Newman, I want to turn to another -- you know, the tragedy within this tragedy continue to mount. We now learn that this young man had been forced to go into a mental institution, diagnosed as being a danger to himself or others, and nothing happened. What in the world is going on?
KATHERINE NEWMAN, PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: My understanding is that he was diagnosed as someone who was mentally ill, but not dangerous to himself and others. And that's why it didn't trigger some of the consequences that actually...
DOBBS: Well, actually, he was diagnosed as mentally ill and in need of hospitalization and presents an imminent danger to self or others as a result of mental illness. It was unequivocal.
NEWMAN: I received a different set of quotations, so I'm not sure what we know.
But I do want to comment on this videotape he sent.
DOBBS: Sure.
NEWMAN: Because it's completely consistent with everything I learned from my research on school shootings. Look at that image...
DOBBS: And wrote about in the book "Rampage".
NEWMAN: This is someone who is trying to follow a script that's not from the news media. It's from the Kung Fu video. It's from the sort of Rambo style image. And that's what he found alluring, and that's what he was trying to invoke as an image of himself, which is totally different from the way everyone around him at Virginia Tech described him.
DOBBS: The -- this contradiction, and the obvious collision between this man's mind and the reality is overwhelming. And Professor Arum spoke to this very issue last night here on this broadcast.
And we're going to ask you to wait just patiently. We're going to take one quick break. We're going to be right back with our panel, and we'll hear from Professor Arum on what is facing this country, all of us, this society.
Stay with us.
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DOBBS: We're back with our panel. And Professor Arum, this image right here, of Cho acting out, is precisely what you're talking about in terms of what's happening with this young man's mind, so many other troubled young minds in this country.
RICHARD ARUM, PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY EDUCATION, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Yes. Indeed that's the case. We have three to four million young children in this society that are currently taking Ritalin and related drugs. We have widespread behavior problem with young boys in our society.
And that is coupled with the schools being not given the authority to deal appropriately with these children.
DOBBS: You're talking about stronger discipline in our schools, from the early onset. You're talking about the need for socialization. And parents...
ARUM: Socialization comes out of effective discipline, discipline that's perceived as fair and that's not necessarily stronger discipline. Zero tolerance policies can have counterproductive effects. DOBBS: Professor Ragan, your thoughts? We've got about a minute left.
RAGAN: Well, I think that discipline would not have addressed what is probably this young man's descent into a psychotic state of mind. Referred to himself...
DOBBS: I'm sorry, I have to interrupt. I said 30 seconds, it was 15. Appreciate it.
RAGAN: Thank you.
DOBBS: Professor, thank you very much.
Professor Newman, thank you.
Thanks for being with us tonight. Good night from New York.
"THE SITUATION ROOM" begins now with Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Lou.
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