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Lou Dobbs Tonight
New Hampshire: Round Two; New York Election Plan
Aired January 04, 2008 - ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you.
Tonight the winners of the Iowa caucuses, Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama sweeping into New Hampshire for the next election battle; will Huckabee and Obama maintain their so-called momentum or will there be a surprise result come Tuesday? We'll have complete coverage tonight, all of that, all of the day's news and much more straight ahead here tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: news, debate, and opinion for Friday, January 4th. Live from New York, here now, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everybody. The winners of the Iowa caucuses, Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, today called on New Hampshire voters to support their message of change. Independent voters are expected to play the decisive role in New Hampshire's primary election next Tuesday. The one-time favorites in Iowa tonight are struggling to refocus their campaigns.
Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney failing to win the support of voters who were furious with Washington elites, special interests and yes, even corporate America. We'll have extensive coverage throughout this broadcast from the best political correspondents anywhere. Tonight we begin with Jessica Yellin, who is covering the Obama campaign in Manchester, New Hampshire, where else? Jessica?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lou, Obama's message today is that he will change Washington and he's electable. He's been telling New Hampshire audiences that his win in Iowa proves that he's no gamble and he says if he wins in New Hampshire in four days, he's unstoppable.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN (voice-over): Without wasting a moment, Barack Obama swept into New Hampshire telling voters they can make the difference.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you give me the same chance that Iowa gave me last night, I truly believe I will be the president of the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
YELLIN: He slept only two hours before hitting the trail, stopping to press the flesh at a cafe in Dover.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations on your win last night. OBAMA: Thank you. (INAUDIBLE)
YELLIN: Then moving to another audience with his message of change and a vow to address kitchen table issues.
OBAMA: Critical issues like health care and our schools, and climate change, and energy policy that breaks the grip of our dependence on foreign oil. That's the possibility that's before us in four days' time.
YELLIN: The excitement inside the Obama campaign is palpable, and that energy could serve him well here in New Hampshire.
JOHN CLAYTON, N.H. UNION LEADER: Primaries I think people tend to vote with their heart instead of their head. Now this is about passion and I think Obama has incited a lot of passion.
YELLIN: But campaign aides insist they're not taking anything for granted boasting to reporters about an aggressive organization in the state, as in Iowa, Obama will continue to focus in on independents. They make up 44 percent of New Hampshire's voters. He's courting them with that promise of healing the partisan divide, and if past is prologue those independents could give Obama a victory here in four days.
OBAMA: And then we'll reach out to undecideds and independents and some Republicans, too, and we are going to pull together this country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN: Now this optimism comes with a heavy dose of caution from Obama campaign aides. They say Hillary Clinton is still a formidable opponent. They expect her to go negative fast and they say they'll hit back, but that could be political quicksand for Senator Obama. He has promised to run a positive campaign, and a change in tone now might not be what voters want. Lou?
DOBBS: Thank you, Jessica; Jessica Yellin reporting from Manchester, New Hampshire.
Senator Clinton tonight is hoping for a powerful rebound in New Hampshire's primary election. Senator Clinton today appealed to New Hampshire voters not to be influenced by the outcome of the caucuses in Iowa. Clinton's advisers say she's likely to sharpen her verbal attacks against the senator and Senator Obama in coming days. Dan Lothian reports now from Manchester, New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The presidential election may be a marathon, but the race to the New Hampshire primary is an all-out sprint. Senator Hillary Clinton understands what's at stake as she tries to rebound from a disappointing third place finish in Iowa. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The short period of time, but it's enough time. I think that I have both the track record, the depth of support, and the understanding about how you put together those states that add up to the electoral majority.
LOTHIAN: Clinton says she wants to reach out to as many voters as possible.
H. CLINTON: I'm happy to be in New Hampshire.
LOTHIAN: Selling her message over tea, and getting help from daughter Chelsea and the former president. Bill Clinton remains a popular figure in New Hampshire. Senator John Edwards wasting no time rallying his supporters shortly after arriving from Iowa.
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning!
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Good morning!
LOTHIAN: Beaming after narrowly edging out Clinton for second place, Edwards is pushing his populist themes, talked about being the candidate of change, telling his supporters he's the candidate for the people of New Hampshire.
EDWARDS: Is they're not interested in the status quo. They're interested in change. They want to see a candidate of change, and so they now have two choices in making that decision, and this choice is somebody who will fight for the change that makes America what it's capable of being.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Senator Edwards is trying to make this a two-man race. Edwards and Obama, but Senator Clinton responding or reacting rather to the Iowa results, said today that the last thing Democrats need to do is to move quickly through this process, without giving all of the Democratic candidates a very hard look. Lou?
DOBBS: Dan, thank you. And I notice Senator Edwards struggling with his voice, as was Senator Obama. It's a tough, tough going on these candidates. Dan, thank you.
The Republican winner in Iowa, Mike Huckabee, faces a much tougher fight in New Hampshire. The former Arkansas governor hoping the momentum of his Iowa success propels him to victory in New Hampshire, but in New Hampshire, there are obstacles and unlike Iowa, Huckabee will not be able to count on a large body of support from Christian conservatives. Dana Bash reports now from Henniker, New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's something you don't hear much from Republican presidential candidates.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... and let's rock the house!
(MUSIC)
BASH: Three songs on bass guitar with "Mama Kicks" (ph), a favorite New Hampshire band.
(MUSIC)
BASH: Mike Huckabee may look like he's just celebrating his big Iowa win but he's also trying to convince New Hampshire voters to give him a chance.
HUCKABEE: This coming Tuesday, you have an opportunity to take a stand and I hope send a message to the rest of America, that there's a fresh, new wind blowing in this country, and it's a wind that blows for change and blows for a better America.
BASH: He's hoping to put to rest questions about whether he can harness his momentum.
HUCKABEE: I've been listening to, you know, the television pundits who said, well, Huckabee did well in Iowa, but he won't do that well in New Hampshire. Well, why not? You know, I've not lived here. I've not, perhaps, run for office here before. I've not spent gazillions of dollars trying to convince you what a wonderful person I am.
BASH: Huckabee's biggest challenge? Proving he can prevail in states like New Hampshire that don't have the kind of big evangelical base that fueled his Iowa upset. So he changed his pitch. Noticeably absent were frequent promises in Iowa to oppose abortion and same-sex marriage. Instead, an appeal to granite state "live free or die" libertarians.
HUCKABEE: I don't trust the government or the private insurance companies to take care of me. I want to take care of me. I think our health plan...
BASH: And a staunchly anti-tax Republican base.
HUCKABEE: Scrap the tax system. Get rid of the IRS. End all of the taxes on our income and productivity and move to a consumption tax that everybody has to pay, including all of the people who are operating in the multibillion-dollar underground economy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now Huckabee advisers admit the next presidential contest state that's most fertile ground for him is not New Hampshire. It is South Carolina, which also has a big evangelical base, but Lou, they admit that they are here and they're staying here through next Tuesday for a very practical reason. It is because we in the National Press Corps are here and they are still a very cash-strapped campaign and they're looking for what political strategists call free media. Lou?
DOBBS: Well free media or not, the fact that he did so well and admittedly with a large number of evangelicals, conservative Christians in Iowa, they also have got to be at least hoping, if not expecting a significant performance there in New Hampshire, are they not?
BASH: They certainly are hoping for one. You know, the political game of expectations, I was on the plane with Mike Huckabee overnight coming here from his Iowa win. The first thing he said was well, John McCain is going to win New Hampshire. I hope to do well there but John McCain is going to win.
You know they are definitely hoping to get what, you know, the first President Bush called the big mo (ph) and to do better than they expected at this event. It is now empty now, but I talked to a lot of Republicans and independents who definitely came and said you know, I've heard him on television. I saw what happened last night.
I want to give him a second look. I want to look at really what he's saying. So there is a chance that he can win people over here in a way that he certainly wouldn't have if he didn't do well in Iowa, they're certainly hoping for that. That is really another reason why he's here until next Tuesday.
DOBBS: Dana, thank you very much. Dana Bash.
As Dana just reported, Mike Huckabee's biggest challenge in New Hampshire could come from Senator McCain, who finished fourth in Iowa. Senator McCain is expected to benefit from Mitt Romney's failure to win in Iowa. Isn't this fun?
Romney's campaign had been hoping for a decisive victory in Iowa that would give him something called unstoppable momentum, which we have never in the history of this country seen in presidential politics, but nonetheless it's much discussed. Senator McCain however says he has the initiative, after Romney's defeat.
The question for Huckabee and Obama tonight alike is whether the qualities that helped them connect with voters in Iowa will carry them to victory in New Hampshire. Bill Schneider has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): The force driving Barack Obama's victory? Youth. The younger the age group the better Obama did. Going forward into New Hampshire that could be an advantage for Obama. Young voters tend to be independents. Obama easily won independent voters in Iowa. In the New Hampshire Democratic primary, Independents are likely to be an even larger constituency.
HUCKABEE: Thank you.
SCHNEIDER: The force driving the Mike Huckabee victory? Religion. Sixty percent of the Iowa Republican caucus goers were born again or evangelical Christians and they voted by better than two to one for Huckabee over Mitt Romney but there are not nearly as many evangelical voters in New Hampshire. Among non-evangelical Republicans in Iowa, Huckabee got only 14 percent of the vote. In order to survive, Huckabee has to expand his support beyond his religious base. Obama's a liberal Democrat. Huckabee's a conservative Republican, but their victories send a similar message -- change.
OBAMA: In four days' time, you have the chance to change America. In four days, you can do what the cynics told us we could not do.
HUCKABEE: Americans are clearly saying, we want change. We want to give new people a chance to lead this country.
SCHNEIDER: Most Iowa Democrats said they wanted change, and they voted for Obama by more than two to one over Hillary Clinton, the candidate of the Democratic Party establishment. Huckabee is also running as the voice of the people against the Washington Republican establishment, but the Republican establishment hasn't coalesced around any single candidate yet.
Huckabee and Obama also share a similar style. They don't talk like typical politicians, cautious and calculating. They are both inspirational figures. Huckabee carried Republican caucus goers looking for a candidate who says what he believes. Romney came in fourth in that group.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: Huckabee and Obama share a certain quality, which Lou, you have described and I will steal the term, respectfully, authenticity, and that's what voters who are sick to death of politicians this year, may be looking for.
DOBBS: If we can just find it in -- among these candidates in both parties. Bill, the idea that Huckabee, with the performance that he had in Iowa, Obama with his performance, is there any likelihood, first, that Huckabee could emerge from where he is now, fourth in New Hampshire, and move up and with that really put on something of a show for the National Press Corps so that there could be greater discussion of momentum.
SCHNEIDER: If he were to win New Hampshire with his very small base of evangelical voters that would be a sensation. Now, no one expects it, but that's what politics is about. It is about beating expectations. If he were to do that, because he has that authenticity beyond his religious base, that would be spectacular.
DOBBS: Second and third become impressive as well for him, correct?
SCHNEIDER: Second or third, yes, because then, you know, if he beats Romney for -- or McCain for second place, yes, that kind of showing would be very, very dramatic.
DOBBS: And as we look at Senator Obama, how important is New Hampshire, in your judgment, for particularly Edwards and for Senator Clinton now?
SCHNEIDER: Well Senator Clinton it's always been her firewall and she's desperate to survive there, she's desperate to win that state. If Obama wins New Hampshire, he's won Iowa, 93 percent white, New Hampshire, he would have won 96 percent white. I don't think African American voters in South Carolina are going to try to block the man who could become the first black president. He would be, I don't want to use the word unstoppable but he would be formidable.
DOBBS: I like that word a lot better than unstoppable because as we all know, there is nothing certain in presidential politics. Thank you very much, Bill Schneider. We look forward to Tuesday's festivities.
SCHNEIDER: OK. Thank you.
DOBBS: Coming up here next, more on the presidential campaign. Also, new developments tonight in the battle in New York State over e- voting machines; it is a battle that could have ended with jail for election officials in the state. Bill Tucker will have the report for us -- Bill.
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, the election officials just beat a court imposed deadline of 5:00 today for a plan to modernize voting machines in New York, but it's not at all clear that that plan will make the judge happy -- Lou.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Bill. Look forward to it.
Also meat and milk from cloned animals could soon be on our dinner tables? Food safety advocates are extremely upset and concerned. We'll tell you why. We'll tell you why you should be paying attention to what's happening with our food supply and this government that is making it all possible.
The war on our middle class is escalating, but President Bush apparently believes the economy is quote, "on a solid foundation." We will provide some counter-evidence for the president and his friends in the White House.
Stay with us. We'll be right back
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: No television news broadcast, period, has covered our democracy at risk as much as this broadcast covering what is happening to our e-voting machines, to electoral issues all across this country. New York State election officials late today beat a deadline that had been imposed by a federal court for a plan to replace mechanical voting machines in New York with electronic machines.
Those officials want the court now to allow them until September, 2009, before they are required to update e-voting machines because of their concerns about reliability. It is far from clear whether or not that judge will accept that request. Bill Tucker has the story on the mess in New York. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER (voice-over): New York is not following the law. The Help America Vote Act passed by Congress in 2002 set a very clear deadline of 2006 for states to get in compliance. It's being sued by the Justice Department and U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe (ph) is furious and exasperated.
In court on December 20th he reviewed his options of calling in the National Guard, throwing the election officials in jail at Christmas telling them quote, "what seems to me to be the most ridiculous option is what he I see everybody talking about which is you want me to do your job. You want me to pick the voting system standards for you."
He didn't. Those election officials have now given the judge a plan but it is a plan that requires more time, until 2009, to comply. Those officials say there's a very good reason why the judge should consider their request.
LEE DAGHLIAN, N.Y. STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS: State laws on the books passed by our Legislature and signed by Governor Pataki back in '05 that make standards for voting machines tougher than federal standards and also any other state.
TUCKER: New York State is not the only state now scrambling to meet new federal voting machine standards.
LARRY NORDEN, NYU BRENNAN CENTER: I don't know that any voting system today has been certified to those 2005 standards and that's why we're seeing now states like California, Colorado, Ohio, if not decertifying the machines, and saying that they should have never passed in the first place.
TUCKER: Which has led to situations like the one in Ohio, where people can vote using the touch screen machines, which have been found unreliable by the state, or ask for paper ballots.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: Now New York election officials would like everyone to think that their inaction was the result of them having the best intention of the voters in mind but the critics say no. Bureaucratic dysfunction and politics played just as big a role and that maybe, just maybe the threat of jail time from the judge focused their minds on the situation -- Lou.
DOBBS: This is one of the rare examples of a judge using great, if you will, forgive the expression, judgment, in not allowing these idiots, this election board is scamming the American people as well as the folks of New York. The issues of reliable and election processes in this country is going to be front and center in this presidential campaign, because of idiots like those sitting on the election board, who are not making certain that we have verifiable voting, and balloting, and that we do not have an issue of who is actually registered legally to vote in this country. It's not only in New York, by the way, nearly every state in the union.
TUCKER: Well I was just going to say there are plenty of idiots to go around country-wide, unfortunately, and what we're looking at now, Lou is a mish-mash of standards, machines that don't meet standards that have now been declared to be the ones to meet and so this election could be frightening in terms of confusion...
DOBBS: It's already frightening. It's frightening what we're letting this country become and the clear, the clear intent on the part of many politicians, the partisans to abuse the electoral system in this country, the American people better wake up. I hope the federal government wakes up, the Justice Department, most especially, on this issue. Thank you very much. Bill Tucker.
Time now to look at some of your thoughts; Bill in Texas wrote in to say, "Lou, after seeing the results of the Iowa caucus, I've decided to become an Independent. Neither of the candidates who won the caucus impresses me as someone who could be an effective president." Welcome to the independent movement in this country.
Mark in Ontario, "Lou, after listening to you flog the presidential candidates with the concerns of the middle class for the past months, I was somewhat surprised and a whole lot pleased to hear the biggest winner and the biggest loser, in their after-the-results speeches, both reference their concerns and their support for the middle class. Sic'em big dog."
And Pauline in California, "I don't ask people who they're voting for. I ask them if they've seen Lou Dobbs. I smile to myself and stand back. The biggest enemy of democracy is apathy. Thank you, Lou. It's from the heart. Keep up the good work." Thank you, and together we can get some things changed in this country, I truly believe.
We'll have more of your thoughts here later in the broadcast. Each of you whose e-mail is read here receives a copy of my new book, "Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit", the book that corporate America, the Democrats and Republicans don't want to you read and of course the 44 percent of the registered voters in New Hampshire who are Independents, well, they could have written the book with me, I think. Perhaps they did.
Now tonight's poll question, do you believe that Independent voters will overcome political partisanship, corporate America, elitist orthodoxy and special interests to determine the outcome of this presidential election? Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We want to hear from you. We'll have the results here later.
The Mexican government today again trying to interfere in U.S. affairs. This time, Arizona, the state of Arizona is the target of this enlightened government in Mexico. Mexico's foreign ministry says it will quote, "defend any Mexicans affected by a new Arizona state law that punishes illegal employers of illegal aliens."
Arizona's tough new law went into effect on January 1st. No enforcement actions have been reported yet. The government of Mexico said it will quote, "intervene in any situation where the rights of Mexican workers are affected regardless of their immigration status." Oh yeah, Mexico? Here we go!
This is the same Mexican government agency, by the way, that published these cartoonish (ph) guys that gave border-crossing tips to illegal aliens with the encouragement, of course, of the Mexican government to the citizens of Mexico, who they could not feed or provide for. Mexican officials including President Felipe Calderon (ph) are increasingly vocal and criticizing American efforts to secure the border and no one in the Bush administration has the guts or the will to say, "just mind your own business."
Of course, this administration won't mind American business, so what's the difference? A new poll shows just how fed up residents along our border with Mexico are with the illegal immigration crisis. A whopping 85 percent of respondents in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Nevada say they believe illegal immigration is a serious or very serious problem, a majority says 25 percent or more of the respondents of those states are illegal aliens.
The poll was conducted in November and December by Arizona State University's Institute for Social Science Research that has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. That's almost exact by polling standards.
Coming up here next serious concerns about whether the government can ensure the safety of a new category of food, meat and milk from livestock produced by cloning. Are you ready?
And President Bush assembling his top economic advisers, yes, top economic advisers as a shocking report sours the markets, investors concern, a full report straight ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The Food and Drug Administration may soon announce that meat and milk from cloned animals is safe to eat, but given recent food recalls and the inability of our Food and Drug Administration to even minimally ensure the safety of our food supply there are serious important questions about whether the federal government could in any way ensure the safety of these new products. Louise Schiavone has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It all started with Dolly the sheep, an animal cloning sensation, born apparently picture perfect but put down at age 6, half the normal life expectancy, due to illness and disease. Now reports "The Wall Street Journal" the Food and Drug Administration is getting ready to say that meats from some cloned animals are safe to eat. Critics charge it's more of the same casual science from a government incapable of protecting consumers.
WENONAH HAUTER, FOOD AND WATER WATCH: The Food and Drug Administration is only inspecting approximately one percent of our food anyway. They don't have the resources or the capacity to take on this highly speculative technology.
SCHIAVONE: The FDA told CNN briefly that quote, "the FDA is still working to finalize our risk assessment activities." Skeptics in Congress have been expecting a ruling like this and have added a provision to the pending farm bill that the FDA await more studies before a ruling on cloned meats, a particular concern to consumer groups, would Americans know if cloning was involved in the food they were buying?
JAYDEE HANSEN, CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY: The milk producers are saying if we have unlabelled milk on the market, and the public thinks some of it comes from cloned animals, their sales would drop 15 percent. Those are serious implications.
SCHIAVONE: In Europe, where there is an abundance of caution about cloned foods out of concern for both safety and ethics, governments would demand specific labeling.
JOHN BRUTON, EU AMBASSADOR TO U.S. We believe that it's essential that the consumer at the end of the day be free not to buy this product and if they, and they would know if a product did contain cloned material.
SCHIAVONE: The U.S. meat industry is awaiting the FDA ruling to decide upon marketing strategies.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHIAVONE: Lou, beyond the issues of food safety and ethics, there are concerns in the U.S. and in Europe that big business and biotech companies would work together to potentially monopolize entire breeds. Lou?
DOBBS: It's unbelievable what we're putting up with in this country. The European Union makes us look like a third world country when it comes to concern about the welfare of their people. I mean, this is ridiculous.
SCHIAVONE: It really is quite striking. You know they call those cloned foods, they call them novelty foods and they say that there's just no question that they would leave it to the consumer to decide. And they say that leave it to anybody else to decide is leaving it to elites, that it's the consumers' decision.
DOBBS: And this ridiculous excuse for an administration is leaving it to the producers to decide what is in the best interests of the consumers. It's idiotic, it's irresponsible and it's business as usual for this administration, unfortunately. Thank you very much, Louise Schiavone reporting from Washington.
Up next the political battle over the conduct of the war in Iraq. Tonight, we'll have a special report on the contrasting views of Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama.
And independently-minded voters demonstrating pure power in the Iowa caucuses. Will the Independents carry the day in this presidential election? Three of the best political analysts join me.
And President Bush just doesn't get it. He appears to be totally out of touch, as middle class families struggle to survive our mortgage crisis, stagnant wages and rising concerns about job security. We'll have a special report and a great deal more, coming up next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: New fallout today from the Bush administration's failed economic policies and its inability to address the escalating toll on this country's middle class. The financial markets plunging on word the unemployment rate rose to a two-year high of 5 percent. But the abysmal jobs picture is only part of our worsening story. Today President Bush meeting with his top economic advisers trying to come to terms with a country spinning perhaps toward a recession. Christine Romans has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president today with his economic team put the best possible spin on the ailing economy.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: While there is some uncertainty, the report is that the financial markets are strong and solid. This economy of ours is on a solid foundation, but we can't take economic growth for granted. We've had 52 straight months of job creation, but job growth slowed last month.
ROMANS: Slowed last month indeed. The Labor Department reported the highest jobless rate since Hurricane Katrina. The economy is shedding tens of thousands of jobs in manufacturing, construction. Even surprisingly retail, which is almost always strong at the end of the year. Jobs added in health care, education, and the government.
PETER MORICI, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: The jobs growth we had was in the services sector, such as restaurants, and hotels, and the government sector. When the government sector is the largest component of jobs growth, we're in a terrible situation. It means the private sector is flat out quit.
ROMANS: Morici says it takes 115,000 new jobs each month just to keep up with new workers in the workforce. The economy created just 18,000 jobs in December. The jobless rate now 5 percent.
JONAS PRISING, MANPOWER: We've been close to historically low unemployment rates at 4.7 percent. Now we've moved up a little bit to 5, but it's still a relatively low number if you look at it from an historical perspective.
ROMANS: It's one reason why the president for most of 2007 hailed the economy as vibrant and strong. Only recently noting what he called storm clouds. The president today acknowledged that Americans are paying more for gasoline and food. Many are concerned about keeping their homes. BUSH: For those of you who are paying more and worried about your home, we understand that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: The president is widely expected to unveil some sort of economic stimulus plan in his State of the Union address this month and he again today urged Congress not to raise taxes, even as economists debate whether we're headed into a recession. The president, Lou, called the economic indicators at this point mixed.
DOBBS: Well, this is an administration facing huge problems. This president, this Congress we should point out in all fairness, none of the -- none of the members of the, what is it, 17 people seeking the presidency of the United States and the party's nomination, are addressing the very severe issues of a dollar that is falling to historic lows against the Euro.
Most major currencies, a credit market crisis that is, that exceeds even that are the savings and loan crisis of the mid 80s. We are, then we have the structural issues that you addressed including the unemployment rate that is rising, job creation, the list is mounting.
ROMANS: $100 oil, a 40 percent increase in consumer bankruptcies last year, there are a lot of specifics on the list.
DOBBS: Well unfortunately the statistics are all about real people and somebody has got to start talking about this and doing a lot more than talking in Washington and that's moving. Thank you very much, Christine Romans.
Well another major issue for voters in this election will be the conduct of the war in Iraq. The winners of the Iowa caucuses, Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, have sharply contrasting positions on the conduct of this war. Jamie McIntyre has our report from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When it comes to Iraq, there is a clear difference between the newly- emerged front-runners. A vote for Senator Barack Obama would be a vote for a phased withdrawal, a gradual pullout of a brigade or two a month over 16 months.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I'll be a president who finally brings an end to this war in Iraq, and brings our troops home.
MCINTYRE: On the other hand, a vote for Mike Huckabee, the Republican Iowa caucus winner, would be a vote for General Petraeus's strategy of cautiously reducing troop levels only as security improves.
On his official Web site, Huckabee spells it out. "Withdrawal would have serious strategic consequences for us and horrific humanitarian consequences for the Iraqis."
Huckabee and Obama also were on opposite sides of the surge. Huckabee supported the strategy from the start.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Republicans want to win the war in Iraq. The Democrats just want to get out. That's the big difference on Iraq.
MCINTYRE: While Obama denounced the surge strategy on the Senate floor as soon as it was announced.
OBAMA: Too many lives have been lost, too many billions of dollars have been spent for to us trust the president on another tired and failed policy.
MCINTYRE: There is another clear split between the two Iowa winners. Barack Obama opposed the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003 while Mike Huckabee was generally supportive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: And Lou, everybody seems to agree the message of the Iowa caucus is that the Americans want change. And clearly, Barack Obama offers more change in regard to Iraq than Mike Huckabee. But the question is, after five brutal years of conflict, Iraq is finally starting to show some signs of stability. So how much change will really be needed when the next president gets in office?
DOBBS: Well, one suspects that the great change will be needed by at the time that any one of these people becomes president, if indeed any one of these people is to become president. But you did mention that the American people want change.
The reality is that the votes in this one caucus are very difficult to discern. We do know, Jamie, as you pointed out, the Democrats wanted change in their votes, with Senator Obama. It's unclear what precisely was the appeal, the strongest part of the message from Mike Huckabee.
But what is clear is that the Democrats are running an extraordinarily large risk, because they have completely and utterly put themselves in the position of opposing the war in Iraq. And it is, as you pointed out, beginning to look as though that could be a very dangerous strategy to have followed because there is, without question, empirical, quantifiable improvement in the circumstances in Iran (sic) for our troops.
MCINTYRE: Well you know it's, wouldn't be the first time that a person ran for president, got in office, confronted the realities of what they were facing and changed their position. I mean just think back of when President Bush in 2000 ran on a platform of reducing the size, sorry, of increasing the size of the U.S. military. Then got in office, began to continue to reduce it, until September 11th came along and then everything shifted. So a lot of times it looks a lot different once you're sitting in that seat in the White House. DOBBS: I misspoke, I said Iran. I meant Iraq of course. And as you say, very famously in 1960, that outcome of that election many believed determined by something called a missile gap. John F. Kennedy established in the campaign to the satisfaction of enough voters for him to win the presidency. Once he got in office, it was rather clear to everyone including the national media, as well as the president, the newly-elected president and his administration that in fact there was no missile gap.
Thank you very much, as we try to find out where the gaps are, in both public policy and between the words that are uttered by our presidential candidates and reality. Thank you very much, Jamie McIntyre from the Pentagon.
Coming up next here, new questions about the presidential election campaign. After just a spectacular finish in Iowa, whether John McCain, winner in New Hampshire eight years ago, can win again. And whether the winners in Iowa can capitalize on their victories and win again in New Hampshire. Whether the Clinton and Romney defeats will push them down in New Hampshire. All of that and more will be answered by three of the very best political analysts in the country straight ahead. Stay with us. We're coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Joining me now are three of the best political analysts in the country. Here in New York with me, "New York Daily News" columnist Michael Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist I should say. And James Taranto, editor of OpinionJournal.com back with us after some respite, we're glad to have you back. And in Manchester, New Hampshire, back with us again as if he's on duty all week, we're delighted that he has been kind enough to share his time here, Roger Simon, senior political columnist, Politico.com. Good to have you with us, Roger. Roger standing at the imminent battleground in Manchester.
What is the conventional wisdom? Who prevails come Tuesday?
ROGER SIMON, SENIOR POLITICAL COLUMNIST, POLITICO.COM: I think Hillary Clinton could be in trouble here. It's not like she did anything wrong in Iowa. It's not like she didn't have a good staff or didn't spend a lot of time and money. She had all of those things and Democrats found a candidate, they found more inspirational in Barack Obama, who beat her by a big margin, eight points. That's almost a landslide.
On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee had an even bigger margin over Mitt Romney, nine points. But he has a more trouble here. It's not the same field. He can't depend on a lot of Christian conservatives. He's up against John McCain, who won here eight years ago. He's up against Mitt Romney, a governor from a neighboring state.
DOBBS: He was a little while ago. Michael, Roger is painting a very bleak picture indeed for Senator Clinton and in fact Huckabee. Do you concur? MICHAEL GOODWIN, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: I do, and especially with Senator Clinton, because I think that Huckabee has the victory under his belt to go on to the southern states, where he should do better. Senator Clinton really needs New Hampshire, because after that, I mean there's Nevada. But basically it's then on to South Carolina, where if Obama wins Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina should tumble easily into his lap.
I was struck by some of the returns from last night in Iowa. As Roger said, it was practically a landslide. But in addition to part of that landslide was that Obama beat her among women. He beat her among those who thought healthcare was the most important issue. So he ran the table on her, on all of her key strengths, so that's why I think her trouble is very, very deep.
DOBBS: One of the things that strikes me as critical as one may be of Senator Clinton on various issues, there is no question the woman put her stomach lining on the table for health care in 1993 in this country. And it was formidable in trying to do what in retrospect everyone knew and many people understood at the time was an impossible, an impossible task to complete.
GOODWIN: Right. And she's identified with it ever since and people identify her, and for her to lose on that issue and last night is extraordinary.
DOBBS: Well opinionjournal.com ready to embrace Huckabee as the leading candidate, put your warm arms around him?
JAMES TARANTO, OPINIONJOURNAL.COM: I have a lot of misgivings about Huckabee from this fair tax proposal which I think is a terrible idea to what seems to be his naivete on foreign policy to his sectarian appeal to Evangelical Christians, which I think he's going to have trouble selling beyond Iowa. But I salute him for his victory and I think there's something to be said for the fact that he was able to beat Romney, who poured a lot of money into Iowa and really tried to win. And Romney is in a position analogous to Mrs. Clinton. If he doesn't win New Hampshire, it's over for him.
DOBBS: Do you really believe that?
TARANTO: I think so. Where does he go if he loses?
DOBBS: Well that's interesting because particularly Bill Clinton giving us a sense of what was to come, the former president saying reminding everybody he didn't win until Georgia. So we'll see. We'll be back with our panel here in just a moment.
Coming up at the top of the hour, "OUT IN THE OPEN" with Rick Sanchez. Rick?
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And you know similar topic Lou that you all are talking about, especially angled at what happened with the Democrats. I mean look, point of fact, if you're an African-American you woke up in this country with a certain spring in your step today. I mean the Obama story is an important story. Is it a Joe Louis winning a championship? Is it a Robinson breaking into the major leagues? Maybe not yet, but it might be and there certainly is a groundswell going on if you consider that we're talking about Independents, first time caucusers, women, younger voters.
There's something going on there so we're going to talk to the old guard, the Reverend Jesse Jackson. He ran for president. He's been there. How does he compare his situation with what happened then to what's going on with Obama now? And how much of his support is he giving Obama, which is kind of an interesting question, kind of in the never there.
Also, I know you're not doing Britney Spears so I'm going to go ahead and do it, Lou.
DOBBS: You have my permission. You have my permission.
SANCHEZ: Because you didn't want to touch that story so we're going to handle it, just to cover you. And then here's one about, you and I have this is similarity where I get crazy with the media sometimes when I feel like they're doing things that just don't make any sense, like attacking the people who were attacked by this tiger out in San Francisco, like it's their fault, right? It's not the tiger's fault, it's not the zoo's fault, it's their fault. Well, we're going to tackle that.
DOBBS: Well don't get too crazy. You never know how that's going to turn out. Thank you very much.
SANCHEZ: Wild animal. Thanks, Lou.
DOBBS: Rick Sanchez. A reminder to vote tonight in our poll. The question is, do you believe that Independent voters will overcome political partisanship, corporate America, elitist orthodoxy and special interests, just to name a few, to determine the outcome of this presidential election? I do, by the way. Cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll have the results here in a few moments. We'll be back with more with our panel.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: We're back with Michael Goodwin, James Taranto and Roger Simon.
Roger, 44 percent of the folks up there registered as Independents. They're going to drive a lot. That warms my heart, no matter the temperature there in Manchester. What do you expect to happen, the influence of the Independents, where will they go?
SIMON: John McCain won here eight years ago on the Independent vote. Independent voters wanted to vote on the Republican side because the Democratic side was dull. Al Gore had smashed Bill Bradley in Iowa.
This time it's going to be a little tougher for McCain for two reasons. One, he's competing for star power with Barack Obama. Independents might want to vote on the Democratic side to feel good about themselves, feel good about the country, vote for Obama.
Number two, McCain has to find pro-war Independent voters. He's very strong on the war in Iraq. Independent voters tend to want, to be much more moderate on the war and want to see a drawdown of troops there.
So that becomes a challenge for him. Best thing he has going for him? Independent voters here may want to slam the door on Mike Huckabee, like they slammed it on Pat Robertson. They don't want to see a southern Baptist minister be the nominee of the Republican Party here.
DOBBS: It's an interesting analysis and a compelling one. The issues that we're looking at here, we know based on the entrance exams that we gave -- exams? As we surveyed folks going into Iowa, we know that the issues were immigration, the economy, and the conduct of the war in Iraq and health care. We knew this a year ago. How will this break in New Hampshire in your judgment, Michael?
GOODWIN: Well, immigration hurts McCain. He was for the amnesty bill. He was a big proponent of it. He's taken his medicine on the campaign. We'll see in New Hampshire. It didn't help him in Iowa. He did not do as well in Iowa as I thought he would. I thought he'd make a comeback there. He has gotten a lot of endorsements. The "Manchester Union Leader," which is the most conservative voice. So that could help him, but I think it's a big climb on the immigration issue.
DOBBS: And an even bigger climb for all of the Democrats. I also think in terms of McCain, that he has to be given credit. This is a man who sponsored comprehensive immigration reform with Senator Kennedy. After two defeats, after talking to people out on the campaign trail, the senator had the good grace and to me the good judgment to say look, I was wrong. We've got to secure the borders and ports first and then we can take up the issue of immigration reform. Do you give him credit for that, James?
TARANTO: Yeah, I suppose I'll give him credit for than.
DOBBS: You're in a generous mood. And the issues in New Hampshire?
TARANTO: I think that Roger is right that Obama is going to capture the Independents. I think part of it just that he sets such a good tone. There is really a feeling that politics has gotten so nasty and it's hard to get anything done with all this bitter partisanship going back to Clinton and then Bush, and I think Obama may get.
DOBBS: I think it goes a little farther back than Clinton. The idea that partisanship is driving so much of this, do you not believe that a Michael Bloomberg, an Independent candidate of some sort here would have an extraordinary opportunity, given the partisanship, given the fact that Independents are the fastest-growing party, if you will, in the country?
TARANTO: It's hard for me to see what Bloomberg's appeal is outside the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I have to tell you, I wouldn't write Obama off even on the Upper East Side.
GOODWIN: I think that's the key. Obama really is a kind of crossover politician. He appeals to the Independents. We established that McCain does. So I'm not sure where a third party fits in Independents who are attracted to both party candidates right now.
DOBBS: I had to bring up the ideologue issue, Roger Simon, just to annoy James. Your thoughts?
SIMON: One thing about - I don't like to make predictions but I'll make this one.
DOBBS: All right.
SIMON: Barack Obama is the nominee of the Democratic Party. Michael Bloomberg will never run against him. He does not want to be known as the man who prevented the first African-American to be the president of the United States. He's not going to do it.
DOBBS: With that, and everybody here is writing this down. You're on the record, Roger and I know you're comfortable being there.
SIMON: Go to the bank with it.
DOBBS: Roger Simon, thank you very much for joining us, Politico.com. And Michael Goodwin, we thank you, "New York Daily News. And James Taranto, opinionjournal.com. Good to see you. Get well soon.
TARANTO: Will do.
DOBBS: You got it.
Coming up next, "Heroes." Our weekly salute to the men and women who serve this nation in uniform. We'll continue in one moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Well, National Guard troops have been playing of course a prominent role, a disproportionate role in the role in Iraq. Among them Sergeant Chad Stephens. He received the Silver Star for saving his fellow soldiers in a day of heavy fighting. Phillipa Holland has his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make sure you check everything.
PHILLIPA HOLLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 2004, sergeant first class Chad Stephens was stationed in Baqubah, Iraq, the site of some of the heaviest fighting between U.S. forces and the insurgents led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. This 39-year-old father of four will never forget one day in June, the day his platoon was ambushed three separate times. The first attack just after sunrise.
CHAD STEPHENS, NORTH CAROLINA NATIONAL GUARD: Mortar rounds buried aside the road. They set the mortar rounds off and we taking RPG fire from roofs.
HOLLAND: 60 to 70 insurgents firing high-caliber weapons at Stephens and his 25 guardsmen. The platoon tried to escape to secure a bridge. Amid the chaos a Bradley fighting vehicle took heavy fire. The driver, disoriented, drove back into the ambush. Stephens left the safety of his own vehicle to lead his fellow guardsman out of harm's way.
STEPHENS: Once I ran across the fight, they directed everything at me. I just kept running to the vehicle. I got to the vehicle and once I got on the vehicle, jumped on top of the vehicle, the driver just stopped the vehicle and turned around, and faced back toward my vehicle so I jumped back off and I waved at him, waved in front to get his attention, let him know I was there and I took off running and he followed me on the vehicle.
HOLLAND: Stephens tried to assist the wounded but his platoon was attacked again, this time from under the bridge they tried to secure.
STEPHENS: Once the ambush came up from under the bridge, I mean everything just, everything just went haywire.
HOLLAND: And that's when the third attack came.
STEPHENS: I had an RPG come through the interior of my vehicle. The heat was so intense inside the vehicle that it singed my eyes shut so I couldn't see. But I told my driver to keep going, not to stop.
HOLLAND: Stephens suffered severe burns.
STEPHENS: I thought I was blind. I couldn't see anything. And I had communications on the vehicle, all of that stuff had been burned off of my head. And once they slit my eyes open so I could see, I got the rest of my wounded out. Flew my guys out on the helicopter and me and my lieutenant got together and asked me to stay there with them and continue to fight and I stayed and fought for two more days in that battle.
HOLLAND: Phillipa Holland, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Sergeant Stephens, that's why we entitle this salute to this tribute to our men and women in uniform, "Heroes."
Results of our poll tonight, 65 percent of you say you do believe that Independent voters also overcome political partisanship, corporate America, elitist orthodoxy and special interests to determine the outcome of this presidential election. And that is optimism and I share it. Thanks for being with us tonight. Join us here tomorrow. For all of us thank you for watching. Good night from New York. "OUT IN THE OPEN" with Rick Sanchez begins right now.
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