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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Bush Admits War in Afghanistan Not Over
Aired December 20, 2007 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN HOST: Thanks, Suzanne. Tonight, a blunt admission by President Bush on the war in Afghanistan. The president saying it will take more time to defeat the enemy in Afghanistan and this after six years of war.
All that, all the day's news, much more straight ahead tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, news, debate and opinion for Thursday, December 20th. Live from New York, sitting in for Lou Dobbs, Kitty Pilgrim.
PILGRIM: Good evening, everybody. President Bush today rejected any suggestion the United States may withdraw from Afghanistan. Six years after the United States overthrew the Taliban regime, the president called for patience in the war against radical Islamist terrorists. The United States has 26,000 troops in Afghanistan. This year it has been the deadliest year of the entire war for our troops. Barbara Starr reports from the Pentagon.
Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty, the sometimes forgotten war of Afghanistan today was front and center at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): Across Afghanistan, violence is up nearly 30 percent in 2007. In Washington, worries the war against the Taliban and al Qaeda might be slipping.
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: My biggest concern is that people say well, we're kind of tired of Afghanistan, therefore, we think we're going to leave.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: It is an absolutely essential mission to stabilize Afghanistan. We learned the hard way what happened when we allowed a failed state to emerge in Afghanistan under Taliban control.
STARR: Why the worry? U.S. commanders say about 4,000 more troops are needed and privately they say, since NATO won't likely send any, it's U.S. troops that may have to fill the gap. Already a U.S. military review of the entire Afghanistan effort is under way. But is the threat in Afghanistan getting better or worse? The administration is sending mixed signals. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, even while pressing NATO for more troops and equipment, insists ...
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The Taliban have not been able to make significant gains. In fact, one could argue that they've hardly made any gains at all.
STARR: The United Nations' own data shows since 2003, the threat of violence has spread to more than a third of the country. Bruce Riedel, a CIA veteran says look across the border to understand the risk.
BRUCE RIEDEL, FORMER CIA OFFICER: We've seen in 2007 a spectacular resurgence of the al Qaeda organization in Pakistan and the borderlands of Afghanistan nearby.
STARR: Al Qaeda and the Taliban, he says, control a lot of territory.
RIEDEL: The operational space that al Qaeda is using in Pakistan is getting bigger, not getting smaller. Part of that is because the Pakistani government is preoccupied with the political crisis within Pakistan. Part of it is because NATO doesn't have enough forces in southern Afghanistan to repress the Taliban.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (on camera): Kitty, the U.S. has long believed that part of the al Qaeda and Taliban strategy simply is to wait us out, wait out the U.S. and NATO and eventually believe that the alliance will get tired and the troops will go home. A lot of concern that in 2008, part of that may be about to happen. Kitty?
PILGRIM: Thanks very much, Barbara Starr.
Joining me for some perspective on the war in Afghanistan is General David Grange. And General Grange is one of the country's most distinguished former military commanders. General Grange we just heard from Barbara Starr that the administration is sending somewhat mixed signals. Former coalition commander David Barno (ph) says insurgency is diminishing in Iraq, increasing in Afghanistan. Should priorities be shifted?
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, (RET): Well, I don't know about priorities being shifted. I mean, you have to have a main effort but really the region is the main effort. So you really can't let go of the momentum that's going on in Iraq and at the same time if the ground commander says they need additional troops in Afghanistan, we should do everything in our power to get those troops.
I really wouldn't care a whole lot myself for what the U.N., the United Nations says, about how progress is going or not. Because if they really don't have any skin in the game. Those that have skin in the game should make those type of decisions.
PILGRIM: We have 26,000 troops in Afghanistan. NATO has 28,000 troops, and U.S. Army General Dan McNeil, who is the top NATO commander in Afghanistan is asking for an additional three battalions of troops from the NATO countries. Now would he get that? Is that enough? Is that realistic?
GRANGE: Well, it's probably the minimum that he needs to his job so obviously that should be supported but it's very difficult to get the troops from NATO. Again, it's disappointing with NATO, when you think about how long that that organization's been around with the United States and its allies contributing to the threats at the time and even today. People don't look at Afghanistan as a threat like they used to look at the Soviet Union.
But in fact it truly is a threat with some of the things that come out of Afghanistan into Western Europe. So he needs the troops, hopefully they come from NATO. My experiences in the Balkans, very tough to get the kind of support you need out of NATO right now.
PILGRIM: Then should the United States be sending even more troops?
GRANGE: The mission is that to win. It's not what could we do, what might we do. It's what should we do, and if we want to bring this thing to fruition, and we should put more troops in there, if we can't get them from NATO, regrettably from our overused military, we're going to have to.
PILGRIM: All right. Thank you very much, General David Grange, thank you.
President Bush today announced some tax relief for American home owners, but the situation for middle class Americans is getting more grim and many feel the response from Washington has been weak, and that this crisis could have been avoided. Christine Romans reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president signs a tax break for struggling home owners.
BUSH: When you're worried about making your payments, higher taxes are the last thing you need to worry about.
ROMANS: Distressed home owners no longer have to pay income tax on mortgage debt forgiven as part of a foreclosure or loan renegotiation. There's bipartisan support for it and the president portrayed it as part of an aggressive campaign to soften the blow of a housing crisis.
BUSH: My administration has taken strong steps to help home owners avoid foreclosure.
ROMANS: The treasury secretary says 1.8 million mortgages will reset to higher rates over the next two years. The White House claims its plan to freeze rates on some loans will help 1.2 million distressed home owners. But an analysis by Barclays says the rate freeze will help 240,000. The Center for Responsible Lending reduces the number further, saying only 145,000 households will ultimately qualify for a rate freeze and some say the administration is late in addressing the crisis. A potential issue for Democrats on the campaign trail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they will say that Alan Greenspan and the Bush administration didn't do enough. They didn't regulate enough. They let this get out of control.
ROMANS: Pointing specifically to years of financial innovation that led to even more complex mortgage products with scant oversight. All along, the president pushed his philosophy of an ownership society. But record home ownership has now brought record foreclosures. Late payments are skyrocketing. Defaults at the highest levels since 1986. Foreclosure activity last month soared 68 percent from last year a cording to foreclosure tracker, Realty Track. New home sales likely collapsed 25 percent and the National Association of Realtors predicts further declines next year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: (on camera): Most agree the housing decline will continue at least through next year and into 2009, that will drag down home prices further. At the same time, prices are rising for food, fuel, education, health care and a lot of other things, Kitty.
PILGRIM: That's an equation that really doesn't add up for middle class of America. Thanks very much, Christine Romans.
Well, President Bush today blasted -- let me move on to this -- about the battle over the new federal budget, the president accused the Democratic-led Congress of acting irresponsibly, and packing a huge spending bill with wasteful earmarks. Democrats accused the president of hypocrisy. Brianna Keilar reports from Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush used his end of the year news conference to take a parting shot at Congress for waiting until the last minute to fund almost the entire federal government.
BUSH: When Congress wastes so much time and leaves its work until the final days before Christmas, it is not a responsible way to run this government.
KEILAR: The $555 billion spending bill comes to his desk with close to 9,000 earmarks. The president warned he may take the rare action of selectively eliminating lawmakers' pet projects.
BUSH: So I'm instructing budget director Jim Nussle to review options for dealing with the wasteful spending in the omnibus bill.
KEILAR: That one sentence made ears on Capitol Hill perk up. One Democratic aide called it sheer hypocrisy, saying President Bush left the last Republican-led Congress alone, despite it added thousands more earmarks to its spending bill. But an aide to Republican Senator Tom Coburn, one of the most outspoken critics of earmarks, welcomed an intervention by the president saying, "It would be a major step in bringing an out of control process under control. For instance, the president could redirect funds dedicated to bike paths to bridge repair."
But there are Democrats and Republicans alike who question if President Bush even has the authority to do that, since he doesn't have line item veto powers. Jim Miller, the former budget director under President Reagan says it is possible to divert funds but it won't save the government any money.
JIM MILLER, FORMER REAGAN BUDGET DIRECTOR: He has to spend the money signed in the appropriation but doesn't have to spend it on those pork items.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (on camera): Now that said, the Reagan administration tried to do just this back in the 1980s and was forced to retreat in the face of major backlash from Congress, Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much, Brianna Keilar. Thanks, Brianna.
Well, still to come, new efforts by local communities to enforce our immigration laws, we'll have a special report on that.
Also rising concern about U.S. airlines that outsource vital maintenance to cheap overseas labor markets. We'll have that story for you.
Also police use chemical spray and stun guns to break up a housing protest in New Orleans. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Police and protesters yesterday clashed in New Orleans over a plan to demolish public housing. Now, that plan was approved late this afternoon. Police used pepper spray and tear gas against a crowd gathered to protest the proposed demolition. Police tried to prevent the group from forcing their way through a city hall gate. Fifteen people were arrested. The protesters wanted to block plans to tear down public housing in the city, which has been hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina. New housing is planned but there are concerns that it won't be affordable for those who are displaced.
The Teamsters Union today also protesting over the outsourcing of aircraft maintenance. Union members rallied at airports across the country to make sure the public knows that United Airlines outsources its aircraft maintenance to communist China. Bill Tucker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): United Airlines is on Santa's naughty list. Well, at least this Santa's list from the Teamsters Union. Teamsters fighting for the right to organize UAL's airline mechanics. They were out at New York's JFK International Airport to protest United Airlines' outsourcing of aircraft maintenance to China.
GABE GUZMAN, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS: One of the reasons we're out here to inform the people they put their trust in United to hire the qualified and skilled mechanics to repair the plane and basically the general public is not aware the checks are being done overseas.
TUCKER: The outsourcing of maintenance is a way to cut costs and increasingly more airlines are doing just that. The inspector general for the Department of Transportation found that last year, 67 percent of significant maintenance was contracted out. That's up from 34 percent in 2003. United defends its decision to have the work done in a shop in China, which is jointly owned by Lufthansa and Air China. Saying, quote, "All of our maintenance, whether it is performed in the U.S. or anywhere in the world by our employers or by a partner is held to our own very high safety standards and those of the FAA."
There are 698 repair stations in countries outside of the United States approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to perform work on U.S. aircraft but that doesn't mean that a foreign shop is the same as a domestic shop. Only supervisors in a foreign shop are required to be FAA-certified. Foreign contractors are not required to have drug and alcohol testing programs, and foreign contractors are not required to perform background security checks on the mechanics working on the planes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER (on camera): Now by law, the Transportation Security Administration is required to establish in final security rules with foreign repair shops and background checks and security issues. The original deadline was for August of 2004. They've had to extend that deadline, Kitty, into 2008, but it should be obvious why they had to extend it. They haven't done it so we have no security requirements for foreign shops.
PILGRIM: This is very disturbing on a number of levels. And one of the levels is that the amount of defective manufacturing we've uncovered this year from China is astonishing and then to think outsourcing airplane maintenance, a very critical ...
TUCKER: And you know, United says we're not alone, number one, we're in this particular shop, Amiko (ph) where 40 other airlines are serviced, they're very defensive about it and to say that everything is fine, they swear they're over there inspecting.
PILGRIM: But the toy companies have made this same argument.
TUCKER: There are a lot of parallels that could be made.
PILGRIM: And of course the security issue which of course is a huge problem for the United States to check and maintain the security on its aircraft and then to have maintenance outsourced makes absolutely no sense.
TUCKER: You would think, number one, you'd want to know who is working on your planes. You have security checks here. You don't have drug and alcohol programs there either. So that you don't -- there's just a lot you don't know in those foreign shops that you do have a handle on because you're required to know here in the States.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much, Bill Tucker. I'm not sure I'm reassured by this report at all or anything this it. We'll have to look more into it. Thanks very much, Bill Tucker.
Time for some of your thoughts. Robert in New York, "Lou, I was appalled when I read about our government taking out the mandate for a border fence when border security is one of the top three issues in this country for Americans. Our government's blatant disregard shows that they are out of touch with the American people or they just don't care."
And Debbie in Florida wrote, "Dear Lou, I cannot believe that the Democratic Congress can't make the president agree to timelines for withdrawal from Iraq. After all they hold the purse strings. We need an independent party to sweep that trash out of Washington now. Thanks, Lou."
And Sharon in Washington wrote to us. "Lou, America doesn't need a first woman president, it doesn't need a first black president. What America needs is an American president, one who is for the American people."
We'll have more of your e-mail later in the broadcast and each of you whose e-mail is read here receives a copy of Lou's new book "Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit." It's a book that corporate America, the Democrats and the Republicans don't want to you read.
Coming up, grassroots, efforts to enforce immigration law bring the issue to the attention of presidential candidates. We'll have a report on that.
Also another change in tactics for Senator Clinton's campaign. We'll have that story, so stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: New local efforts tonight to enforce our nation's immigration laws. Communities around the country have been forced to take action, in light of the federal government's inability to deal with the illegal immigration crisis, and these grassroots movements have forced the presidential candidates to recognize illegal immigration as a major issue in the campaign. Louise Schiavone has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reporter: for a growing number of voters, illegal immigration is topic A and the candidates know it.
FRED THOMPSON, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Americans know we have an illegal immigration problem.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Legal immigration is great, but illegal immigration, that we've got to end. Thank you - and amnesty is not the way to do it.
RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People are frustrated over illegal immigration because the government has been talking about solving this for 20 to 25 years and it's just gotten worse.
SCHIAVONE: That's why grassroots movements like Virginia's Save the Old Dominion are emerging.
GREG LETIECQ, SAVE THE OLD DOMINION: The moneyed interests, the special interest groups, those with a political agenda have dominated our political spectrum and even though we try to introduce bills through our elected representatives that are going to help solve some of these challenges, they never seem to make it out of a committee in the Virginia State Senate.
SCHIAVONE: Virginia's Democratic governor, Tim Kaine is currently under fire for resisting a recommendation from the state's crime commission to authorize federal immigration law training for state police. He says that's a federal job but grassroots groups are tired of waiting.
MARK KRIKORIAN, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: The reason there's grassroots activism is because there's this enormous gap between elite views and public views on immigration. This isn't just L.A., Miami, New York City anymore. It's all over the place.
SCHIAVONE: With states and localities taking matters into their own hands, officials across the nation have considered more than 1,500 pieces of immigration-related legislation this year, the provisions and severity of the measures vary from state to state and many are facing court challenges but so far, 244 have become law in 46 states, 11 have been vetoed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHIAVONE (on camera): Kitty, in the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll of expected Iowa caucuses-goers as an issue, illegal immigration ranks second for Republicans and fourth for Democrats, in a CNN/WMUR poll, Republicans in New Hampshire rank immigration as a top concern.
PILGRIM: Louise, this is something that for anyone who isn't tone deaf in this country knows that it was a big issue, but to get it quantified tonight in your piece, 1,500 pieces of legislation this year alone that really does show what an important topic this is.
SCHIAVONE: There's a tremendous groundswell of public opinion on this, as we heard from Mark Krikorian and a big difference between what he says the elites are and by that he means the media elites, people who have a lot of money as opposed to people who are living this every day, they see what illegal immigration does to the jobs they have access to, the wages they make, the taxes they have to pay, what they get from government, it's a big, big issue on the local level.
PILGRIM: Certainly is. Thanks very much, Louise Schiavone, thanks, Louise.
And we will be joined later in the broadcast by Governor Matt Blunt of Missouri trying to work on cracking down on illegal immigration in his state. And that brings us to the subject of tonight's poll. Do you believe the majority of American citizens want a federal government that will secure our ports and borders and enforce immigration law? Yes or no? Cast your vote at loudobbs.com and we'll bring you the results a little bit later in this broadcast.
And also coming up, Hillary Clinton's on the offensive, John McCain's on the defensive, and we'll have the latest from the campaign trail.
Also the election battle escalates between Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. We'll have that story.
And toy stores still packed with potentially toxic toys. We'll examine the Bush administration's outright failure to protect us from dangerous imports. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo is dropping out of the Republican presidential race. He made the announcement in Iowa this afternoon. Congressman Tancredo admitted he always knew his campaign was a long-shot but said he felt compelled to pursue the issue of illegal immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TOM TANCREDO, (R) CO: And while the people across this great country have come to understand the real and present danger that our open borders policy creates for us, this message, unfortunately, has fallen on deaf ears in the highest office of the land. And without a president who is committed to securing the nation, we will always, of course, remain in jeopardy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Congressman Tancredo says he will endorse Mitt Romney because he shares his views on illegal immigration.
Well, Senator John McCain, whose standing in the polls has been rising lately, today had to defend his integrity. The senator was questioned about reports that the "New York Times" is investigating allegations of favoritism by the senator. Senator McCain told reporters he has not talked to "The Times" but his staff has had discussion with the newspaper. Senator McCain said "I've never done any favors for anybody, lobbyist for special interest groups and that's a clear 24-year record."
Meantime, Senator McCain has a lot of work to do in Iowa, with two weeks to go before the Iowa caucus. There doesn't seem to be a clear front-runner for either party and Bill Schneider explains why the race is so competitive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a tight three-way Democratic race in Iowa between Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research poll. For Iowa Republicans it's a two-way race, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.
Why is Iowa so competitive? The top issue for Iowa Democrats is Iraq. Clinton has taken criticism for her Iraq policy, but Iowa Democrats say she would handle the issue the best. Just behind Iraq, health care, advantage Clinton again.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Fighting for health care is one of my motivations for running for president.
SCHNEIDER: The economy is a fast-rising concern, another Clinton issue. Clinton has always three big Democratic issues, so why is Obama breathing down her neck? Because he doesn't sound like the typical politician.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to change how business is done in Washington, in a fundamental way.
SCHNEIDER: Iowa democrats call Obama the most honest and trustworthy candidate and the one who best understands their problems, personal problems. The top issue for Iowa republicans? The economy. They rate Romney, a former business executive, tops on the economy.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I spent my life in our economy.
SCHNEIDER: Just behind the economy, illegal immigration, another Romney issue. The number three republican issue, abortion. A Huckabee issue. If abortion is Huckabee's only issue, why is he leading? Because he doesn't sound like a typical politician. He told Larry King the election will turn on ...
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whether or not the people believe there was need for change in this country and a different kind of leadership.
SCHNEIDER: Iowa republicans call Huckabee the most honest and trustworthy candidate and the one who best understands their problems, personal problems.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: On "ABC News Nightline" Senator Clinton was asked about the relevance of those personal qualities. Her response? "We've gone through trying to decide who would you rather have a beer with, and look at the results." Kitty?
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN ANCHOR: Bill, quick question. With the back- to-back Christmas/new year's holiday, might Iowa have a little bit of a lull or too much to hope for? SCHNEIDER: Probably too much to hope for. The candidates pledged to take Christmas off and hold their ads on Christmas day but not taking New Year's Day off. They'll be out there and active because that's two days before the caucuses.
PILGRIM: The voters, might they be distracted by normal events that happen this time of year?
SCHNEIDER: I hope so. They're normal people, after all, even if they spend an evening on a cold winter night attending the caucus but my feeling is, the voters are going to be occupied with family and friends and other things over the holidays, which produces a kind of funny wrinkle in the caucuses this year, namely how many people are actually going to show up and how many people are going to be think being it for the next two weeks.
PILGRIM: That's exactly right. Thanks very much, Bill Schneider.
Senator Clinton's comments on "Nightline" appear to be an overall strategy to shift for the New York senator. Jessica Yellin reports Senator Clinton is going on the offensive but ever so gently.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Barack is back on the campaign trail. In a new push, Senator Clinton is using the Bush administration's mistakes there is to make her case here.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is tempting any time things seem quieter for a minute, on the international front, to think that we don't need a president who is up to speed on foreign affairs and military matters. Well, that's the kind of logic that got us George Bush in the first place.
YELLIN: It's a new line clearly designed to draw a contrast with her chief competitor, Barack Obama. The Clinton campaign says he does not have as many years of foreign policy experience as she does. She delivered it literally backed up by a high-powered group of her husband's foreign policy and military advisers.
Senator Clinton is walking a fine line, trying to break away from the pack without getting branded as negative, a label many of her aides believe is unfairly attached to her, and another effort to set Clinton apart from her closest competitors? The campaign is making it known Clinton has more union support than John Edwards, though he's positioned himself as the working man's candidate. Unions backing her include 6 million members, his include memberships of just over 3 million. And then there's this line --
CLINTON: I believe that the economic policies of the Clinton administration in the '90s were not only very important in helping to create more than 22 million new jobs, but we lifted more people out of poverty in the '90s than at any time in our history. So I've not just given speeches about this. I've worked on this for 35 years.
YELLIN: A broadside John Edwards was back on quickly. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She said something about people talking about poverty but what are we going to do about it. Let me just be clear, ending poverty in this country is the cause of my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN: And Kitty, today Senator Clinton endorsed a proposal that's long been one of Senator Edwards' key policy plans, that is to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour and in another development, the Obama campaign quickly responded to Senator Clinton's attack on the foreign policy issue. Obama's aides pointed out that he opposed the Iraq war from the beginning and they say he's the candidate who will "turn the page" on what they call Bush-Cheney foreign policy. A tight race. Kitty?
PILGRIM: It sure is and we're getting to the specifics. Jessica Yellin, thank you very much.
Coming up, we'll tell you about the heated battle between the two republican front-runners and we'll also talk to a governor who is fighting illegal immigration head-on, cracking down on sanctuary cities and going after contractors who hire illegal aliens.
Also, parents will you not want to miss this. We'll talk to a panel of leading experts why there are so many unsafe toys in the stores. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: It is a tight race in Iowa for the republican nomination. The caucuses will take place in exactly two weeks. Mike Huckabee is doing all he can to hold onto his lead against this chief rival, Mitt Romney. Dana Bash is in Iowa with the story. Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kitty, Mike Huckabee's strategy to keep his surprising lead here is to convince Iowa voters who love a tell it like it is underdog that's still what he is, someone who "Wall Street and Washington do not want to succeed." But he's walking a fine line. More and more the candidate who relishes and benefits from his nice guy image is proving he's not afraid to mix it up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: For Mike Huckabee in Iowa, being a front-runner means the crowds are suddenly bigger, and attacks from opponents stronger. So he's changed his stump speech, now pleading with Iowa voters not to believe his rivals.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This nonsense, what I'm asking to you realize is that when people get desperate, they say desperate things, and sometimes dishonest things.
BASH: But in defending his own record, Huckabee is questioning Mitt Romney.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nice to see you today.
BASH: Issuing over 1,000 clemencies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He never pardoned a single criminal.
BASH: Huckabee tells the crowd about a case in Massachusetts, an Iraq war vet with a juvenile record asking for clemency to be a police officer.
HUCKABEE: If that were on your desk, how many of you would have granted that pardon for that young man? Let me just see. Okay? How many of you would have not granted that pardon? For that young man? Okay, one.
BASH: Then he goes in for the kill.
HUCKABEE: My opponent said no. Do you believe that he acted in the best interests of that young man and his state or did he act in the best interests of his own future political career? That's judgment, folks. You've just decided whose judgment you believed was better.
BASH: The clear message, Romney made crass decisions for political gain. Huckabee believes in fairness and redemption.
HUCKABEE: You're what it's about.
BASH: That plays well with Christian conservatives that dominate his crowds and drive his popularity. Brenda Carnahan home schools her young children. She's never voted in a caucus but will for Huckabee.
BRENDA CARNAHAN: I just feel he has, he represents what our values are, the closest of any of the candidates.
BASH: The former preacher still pounds away on those values, opposition to abortion, gay marriage. He's even trying to turn questions about a subliminal cross in this ad to his benefit.
HUCKABEE: What's wrong with our culture? When we can't mention that Christmas is the birth of Christ without having a bunch of people go completely berserk about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: The former preacher heard a lot of amens from the crowd for that line and some others, but he also got a very pointed question from a voter who wants to know what he plans to do about the 12 percent to 14 percent of Americans who say they are not religious. Huckabee responded quickly saying, "You don't have to be religious to be an American." Kitty?
PILGRIM: Dana, thank you. Dana Bash reporting from Iowa.
CNN's John King sat down with Mitt Romney to get his response to Huckabee's clemency attack and here's what Romney said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: So he thinks 1,033 pardons shows a heart? He thinks giving 12 murders pardons shows a heart? He thinks giving a repeat drunk driver a pardon to get him out of jail shows heart? I think it shows a softness that is not appropriate in this kind of a setting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Romney went on to explain that this particular case he was following established guidelines for pardons.
Rudy Giuliani is on his way back to New York after being hospitalized in St. Louis for what his campaign called flu-like symptoms. The republican presidential candidate was released just a few hours ago, and his campaign says his symptoms got so bad; they had to turn their plane around last night and return to Missouri. Campaign aides say doctors gave Giuliani a clean bill of health after a series of tests.
Up next, we'll talk to a governor who's spear-heading tough, new initiatives to crack down on illegal immigration.
And buyer beware, a few months ago, the toy industry promised this would be one of the safest holidays ever. So much for that promise. We'll talk to a panel of experts about what went wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Coming up at the top of the hour "OUT IN THE OPEN" with Rick Sanchez. Rick.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hey Kitty. We've just gotten information from a woman who says in that protest in New Orleans, she was tased. As a matter of fact, we've got the video. You see right there, she's the one on the ground, wearing that maroonish, that maroonish top. She's going to be telling us her story. She says she was treated unfairly. Obviously look, there's a lot of discord right now going on in New Orleans. You always knew that when they started to rebuild the city, there were going to be problems with people saying you're not tearing down my house. That's exactly what's going on right now. We'll bring you the latest on this and bring you her story.
And then Eric Volz, I went to Nicaragua to tell his story. A judge has now decided he should be let go. Another judge is saying no, I'm not going to let this gringo go. They're extremely upset with him. This is a murder case of a girlfriend he had down there but apparently it's now been overturned and it gets crazier than that. We'll have the details all for you on "OUT IN THE OPEN." Kitty, back to you.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much, Rick Sanchez.
Missouri is taking the initiative to solve the crisis caused by illegal immigration. This state, like so many others, is forced to act on its own because of the inaction by the federal government. Missouri's plan will take action against cities offering sanctuary status and it will toughen regulations to make sure that businesses don't hire illegal alien workers.
Missouri's governor, Matt Blunt is pushing for tough new measures and joins me now. Thanks for being with us.
GOV. MATT BLUNT (R), MISSOURI: Good evening.
PILGRIM: Let's go through some of these things that you're calling for, tough sanctions on state contractors with financial penalties. What would you like to see?
BLUNT: Right now we're allowed to assess about a 20 percent withholding against construction contractors that use illegal labor. I'd like to expand that to 25 percent, but more importantly, expand it to all contracts so that if a contractor with the state is using illegal workers, they could lose up to 25 percent of that contracts of value. It's really just about ensuring that taxpayers don't in any way subsidize illegal labor.
PILGRIM: It makes perfect sense. You also have new requirements for schools and cities and counties. Tell us a little bit about that.
BLUNT: You know some time ago I directed that state government begin to use eVerify, provided by the department of homeland security, as a mechanism that exceeds your formal i-9 verification to ensure those you're hiring are not illegal and indeed that they are legal and we've been using that in state government. We've had over 10,000 verifications. It's a system that we see works well, and I am encouraging the legislature to pass legislation I could sign that would require it in all governmental entities, school districts, local government, municipal government, county government, all government would be required to use eVerify, again to ensure that tax dollars were in no way being used to subsidize illegal labor.
PILGRIM: Your highway patrols allowed to check immigration status since August. What have you turned up?
BLUNT: You know, since in August, I directed all of our state law enforcement, the primary largest agency being the highway patrol, to verify the immigration status of anybody we present for incarceration, which essentially means any time we arrest somebody for a crime that would lead to jail. Since we -- since I made that directive in August, we've apprehended and turned over to the federal government 126 illegal immigrants, and those are people that committed crimes in our state against life and property in Missouri, and I think it's a demonstration of how significant and widespread this problem is across the state and across the country.
PILGRIM: Do you believe it is a significant problem? Some of your critics say you're doing this simply for the camera.
BLUNT: You know, I'm doing it because when I visit with Missouri families, they tell me it's a concern and there are millions of illegal immigrants in the country, given Missouri's size and large population, you would assume that there are at least thousands at the bare minimum in Missouri. So this is a real issue. It is certainly a concern of Missouri families, and that's what government needs to do, because Washington's failed to do that. Washington's failed to address a very real concern, families in my state and across the country. That means states have to do even more, and in Missouri, we are doing more to curb illegal immigration.
PILGRIM: Governor, this does seem like a hard-headed approach to me and some of the measures are quite tough, and very strictly enforced. Some of your critics say you don't go after private business significantly, that this is somewhat cosmetic if you're not going after private business. What do you have to say to that?
BLUNT: You know, I am very supportive of any measure that increases employment verification across the board, and mandated eVerify for state government. I want to apply it to all government and I encourage all businesses today to use it and I've voiced support for a requirements for at a minimum, any company that's ever hired an illegal should be required to use eVerify going forward, at a minimum, and I'm certainly willing to consider even stricter standards than that.
PILGRIM: You know, Governor, you supported President Bush's immigration reform plan, and you're very critical of the federal efforts. What would you like to see going forward?
BLUNT: I want to clarify, I specifically supported one component of President Bush's immigration plan, and that was posting the National Guard on the borders, and when we announced that, I issued a very strong statement in support of placing the guard on the border and we had a number of people in our guard that recognized this was a problem and volunteered to go down there. I had an opportunity to visit them in Arizona and see the great success in stopping attempted crossings and increasing apprehensions but that's the component that I supported, not the entire plan.
PILGRIM: All right. Governor Matt Blunt, thanks very much for being with us, sir.
BLUNT: Thank you.
PILGRIM: A reminder a vote in tonight's poll. Do you believe the majority of American citizens want a federal government that will secure our ports and borders and enforce immigration law? Yes or no? Cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll bring you the results in a few minutes.
Also still ahead, the toy industry promised this would be a safe holiday season. Why are dangerous toys still on the shelves? We'll have that and a lot more. Stay with us.
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PILGRIM: Three months ago, the head of the U.S. Toy Industry Association promised Americans a safe Christmas saying "We are out to make sure that toys are among the safest things parents can bring to their homes this holiday season." But with another toy recall just yesterday, five days before Christmas, those assurances ring very hollow. Tens of millions of toys have been recalled this year, most of them made in communist China.
Joining me now is Lori Wallach from Public Citizen and we're also joined by author Richard Miniter. Welcome to both of you.
I'll start with you, Lori because I've been reading your report, "Santa's Sweatshop: made in D.C. with bad trade policy; U.S. toy corporations greedy off shoring puts kids at risk." It is a really compelling read and some of your statistics are interesting. From 1972 to '82, we had about a dozen recalls a year, and now this year, we had 120 recalls. It's about $300 million worth of stuff and tens of thousands of toys are being recalled. What went wrong?
LORI WALLACH, PUBLIC CITIZEN: Well, in that report, we basically track the deliberate decision by the big U.S. toy companies to relocate their production wholesale, overseas to countries where they couldn't ensure the safety of the products they sold back here. We also document how their profits and CEO pay went through the ceiling, but making toys in unsafe places has resulted in skyrocketing recalls and it was a deliberate choice. This was not an act of god, and then the same companies pushed for trade agreements to lock in this low- road strategy, at enormous risk to all of our safety.
PILGRIM: I looked at the CEO's salaries in relationship to the salaries of the workers and when it's outsourced how low the salaries go. It's shocking stuff. It is an interesting read.
Let me get Richard in on this and Richard, I was very interested in your take on this, because you take it as a very almost academic subject, although you have concrete examples. You talk about how America failed to see the threat posed by Chinese goods and you talk about safe trade. You say the debate is limited, and safe trade is really what we should be pursuing. How do you define that?
RICHARD MINITER, AUTHOR, "BUYER'S REMORSE": Well the safe trade is United States that is open to trade, that believes in global trade but believes in consumer safety rules, too. It's not possible to trade with someone without a degree of trust, and trust is fortified through safety regulation. The same safety rules that apply to American-made products sold in America, should apply to imports.
We know that expecting the Chinese to fix this is naive. We know that the Chinese, I went through in my report, buyer's remorse. I look at Chinese language press accounts. They have dangerous products in their own country made by their countrymen which are killing in one case 16 infants, another case hundreds of adults. So they're living with dangerous products in their own country and now they're exporting them to ours.
The question is, are we going to change our border procedures, make these bureaucracies work together, coordinate them and treat it like a national security threat? God forbid if the Chinese actually decided to intentionally ship dangerous products to the United States, we're wide open, no defense Less than one percent of all containers that come into the United States are inspected.
PILGRIM: You say about one-fifth of the consumer products now in this country are made in China. I was also struck by some of the products thaw mentioned that weren't on my radar, these lead-coated steel pipes and things that are going into buildings and these are sort of hidden dangers that so we don't even notice at this point.
MINITER: That's right and we know that lead in high doses leads to mental retardation in children and it can poison adults as well.
Look the Chinese don't want to follow American safety standards, yet they want to sell into the American market. We're going to have a level playing field, I know this term has been abused by some critics of free trade, and I consider myself a free trader but before that, a safe trader. I don't want people selling products labeled food that's actually poison and selling medicine that doesn't actually cure. We went through a period in this country in the mid 19th century where people sold snake oil and other people died. Do we really need to repeat it with a Chinese accent?
PILGRIM: No. Lori, you and I have been talking about this absolutely for at least the last year and before that. You've been following this as your life's work and basically, we look to you to say we've all been talking about this for so long but not that much has been done. We've had hearings and reports but not that much has been done. What needs to be done and what needs to be done right away?
WALLACH: Well, there are two things that have to happen. To make the improvements in our domestic system, we need to change the Consumer Products Safety Commission. There was legislation passed yesterday in the House on that issue that didn't deal with import safety in the middle of the biggest import safety scandal in our country's history.
We need to give the powers to the inspection agency, for instance, to inspect overseas, to stop things apt the border, to require importing companies to post bonds so their goods can be recalled, to make them suggest them selves to U.S. jurisdictions for enforcement actions so the playing field is level for the U.S. companies and the foreign companies.
But to make those improvements to increase inspections, to do the things that need to be done you have to change the trade rules as well. And the reason why is currently under the World Trade Organization, NAFTA and CAFTA, there are ceilings on the level of safety standards the U.S. can apply to imported goods and domestic inspection rates have to be the same as international import inspection rates. Even though an import from China has no safety inspection we can't inspect at a higher rate because of trade rules.
PILGRIM: Right, we're limited. Richard, any thoughts on how to change the system?
MINITER: First of all, I think the Bush administration's plan announced last week is insufficient. They're only going to inspect ten product lines coming from China out of the thousands of goods, and the Chinese haven't even agreed to when we can send those inspectors.
But firstly, I think the Chinese have to stop denying American health inspectors who want to go to China to inspect these subcontractors of American companies. Those visas have got to stop being denied.
Secondly, we have got to form a safe trade center where all of the agencies that look at border security and product safety come together -- the FDA, the Consumer Products Safety Commission, Customs and so on -- can share information. I think it should be modelled on the Counterterrorism Center that brings together the CIA, the FBI and these other agencies.
If there is a major problem that emerges, these groups can then mobilize quickly, as opposed to now, where these are separate silos, they barely communicate with each other. And that bureaucracy can magnify -- that bureaucratic failure can magnify the size of any failure.
We can't afford to wait. We have got to act now.
PILGRIM: That sounds like a very sensible, sensible plan. Richard Miniter and Lori Wallach, thank you for joining us tonight.
WALLACH: Thank you.
PILGRIM: The results of tonight's poll -- 99 percent of you say the majority of American citizens want a federal government that will secure our ports and borders and enforce our immigration laws.
We do have time for one last e-mail. Tim in Oklahoma wrote to us -- "Lou, Congress must be wearing Chinese-made hearing aids, because they don't work! I am once again outraged that Congress has cut funding for the border fence. What is it going to take for this administration to hear what Americans are asking for, a secure border with Mexico?"
We love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts at loudobbs.com. Each of you whose e-mail is read here receives a copy of Lou's new book, "Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit." It's a book that corporate America, the Democrats and the Republicans don't want you to read.
Thanks for being with us tonight. Please join us tomorrow. For all of us here, thanks for watching. Good night from New York. "OUT IN THE OPEN" with Rick Sanchez starts right now -- Rick.
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