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Lou Dobbs Tonight
U.S. Military Stretched Thin; Big Job Losses in the U.S.; Cross-Border Drug Trade Thriving
Aired April 04, 2008 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Suzanne.
Tonight, new figures on jobs and unemployment, new evidence our economy may be in recession. We'll have a special report.
And corporate elites again put their interest before the national interest on the issue of illegal immigration. We'll have all that, all the day's news, and much more straight ahead tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: news, debate, and opinion for Friday, April 4. Live from New York, sitting in for Lou Dobbs, Kitty Pilgrim.
PILGRIM: Good evening, everybody.
The nation tonight is honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 40 years after he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. In a year in which race has become a major political issue Americans are united in remembering a true American hero. Dr. King was shot at exactly 7:01 p.m. Eastern Time on this day in 1968. Tonight there's a moment of silence at the former Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee where Dr. King was assassinated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want you to pause and make a commitment to God and yourself of what you will do from this moment on in the spirit of Martin Luther King. From this moment, leave this courtyard differently, in the spirit and tradition of Martin Luther King. Let us pause.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: This is moment of silence after a candlelight vigil to mark the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of one of the world's most celebrated civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King.
There tonight son, Martin Luther King, III, Bernice King, the Reverend Al Sharpton, the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Dr. King an ordained Baptist minister was only 39 years old when he was slain. Among his many accomplishments, the youngest person at the time to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the first African American to be named "TIME" magazine's Man of the Year.
In 1963 during the march on Washington for jobs and freedoms, King delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The demonstration was attended by more than 250,000 people, one of the largest ever in Washington up to that time.
Four years later, he was assassinated. He has left this country a profound gift, the highest ideals for race relations that this country can aspire to.
Reverend Jesse Jackson was a few feet from Dr. King when he was shot, Reverend Jackson, the founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, will join us later in the broadcast. He says Dr. King's legacy is alive and well.
Turning to other news, Defense Secretary Robert Gates today said the U.S. will send substantial reinforcements to Afghanistan next year. Now Gates said those extra troops will go to Afghanistan regardless of the progress in the war in Iraq, but it appears there are no extra U.S. troops available for Afghanistan this year.
Barbara Starr reports from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the end of the NATO summit in Bucharest, President Bush committed a new round of U.S. troops to the war in Afghanistan. According to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Mr. Bush told other heads of state that in 2009, the United States would make a significant, additional contribution of forces to fight the Taliban. U.S. commanders want another 10,000 troops in Afghanistan, so why not send them now to join the 31,000 U.S. troops already there -- the answer, Iraq.
ADMIRAL MIKE MULLEN, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: There are force requirements there that we can't currently meet, so having forces in Iraq don't -- at the level they're at don't allow us to fill the need that we have in Afghanistan.
STARR: Finding enough troops for Afghanistan and Iraq is proving to be increasingly difficult. A new classified national intelligence estimate on Iraq, which Congress requested before General David Petraeus testifies next Tuesday is now on Capitol Hill. It reportedly says the surge is working, but analysts say the recent fighting in Basra may have changed everything.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: I would say that any report done before Basra is already obsolete, at least to an extent. And so in that regard it's not going to be a definitive word anyway.
STARR: The latest fighting in Basra could temper Petraeus' view that the surge has worked. The U.S. now has more than 500 troops in the south helping Iraqi security forces, but U.S. officials note 1,000 Iraqi troops deserted their post during the fighting.
In September the first post surge brigade is due to come home. Petraeus has to decide within the next several weeks if he still wants replacement troops or if he is going to begin a new draw down.
(END VIDEOTAPE) STARR: The need for more troops in Afghanistan is going to put pressure on the administration to begin a further troop draw down in Iraq because after all, Kitty, there really are only so many boots you can put on the ground in either country.
PILGRIM: Well that's exactly right, Barbara, so where in the world is the Pentagon going to find all these extra troops to fight in Afghanistan next year?
STARR: That's going to be a fairly significant problem for a couple of reasons. First, when troops come home from Iraq, the Pentagon has made an absolute pledge to give them at least 12 months with their families to rest and recuperate before they go off to a war zone again. So that's going to put some pressure on it.
Iraq is not exactly getting better anytime soon as we've seen with the fighting in Basra. And finally what Admiral Mullen said was absolutely vital. Look at it this way. They need the troops in Afghanistan now; they're not sending them until next year because they don't have them to send.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much, Barbara Starr. Thanks Barbara.
A B-1 bomber supporting U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan today caught fire today in Qatar. The bomber caught fire after it landed at a U.S. air base. Now all the airmen onboard escaped without injury. Meanwhile, an airman has been killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad. The airman is the first U.S. fatality in Iraq this month. Thirty-eight of our troops were killed in Iraq last month; 4,013 of our troops have been killed since this war began; 29,628 troops wounded; 13,264 seriously.
Voters are very pessimistic about the direction this country is taking. A "New York Times"/CBS poll says 81 percent of voters believe this nation is on the wrong track. One major reason is the economic downturn. A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll says 42 percent of voters believe the economy is the number one issue. That's double the number of voters who think the war in Iraq is the top issue.
New evidence today of the magnitude of the economic crisis facing this nation, employers slashed 80,000 jobs last month. That's the most in five years. The unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent. That's the highest level in nearly three years.
Christine Romans has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This economy is hemorrhaging jobs. Almost a quarter of a million lost in the first quarter this year; last month 48,000 manufacturing jobs gone; 51,000 construction jobs gone. Losses are spreading the Labor Department says beyond the well known shocks in the housing market.
KEITH HALL, DEPT. OF LABOR: Consumer spending actually has been weakening. I think that's been part of this broader weakening in the labor market.
ROMANS: Jobless rates rose for just about everyone to 5.1 percent overall; 4.5 percent for whites; 6.9 percent for Hispanics; and nine percent for blacks. Vanguard Mutual Fund founder John Bogle.
JOHN BOGLE, FOUNDER, VANGUARD INVESTMENTS: I think we're in for some tough economic times, maybe for the rest of this year, maybe into 2009.
ROMANS: Those tough economic times revealed in a barrage of grim statistics. Gas at a record $3.30 a gallon, up 60 cents in a year. First quarter consumer bankruptcy filings up 27 percent, an estimated 20,000 home owners with sub prime loans lose their house each week. And the government forecast in the next year the number of people using food stamps will reach a record 28 million.
Rising food costs and a weakening job market the primary culprit. There was hiring last month, by the government, hospitals, restaurants, and schools, but not enough to make up for deepening losses throughout the rest of the labor market. The concern now -- how much worse could it become?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: According to the Labor Department, after the past four recessions it took an average of 20 months for job creation to return to pre-recession levels. The last recession, it took an unusually long 39 months and wages, according to the Labor Department still have not recovered from that, Kitty.
PILGRIM: Christine, how does this compare to the relatively mild recession of 2001?
ROMANS: Back then over that course of that entire recession, we lost about $1.6 million jobs, but several economists pointing out that then we didn't have rising food prices, rising energy prices like we do today, and the credit crunch, so there are some elements of this one that are a little different that people say are making this not a garden variety recession, if indeed it turns out to be one. The Labor Department today, Keith Hall, they're very careful not to agree with some senators that -- who think that it is a recession right now.
PILGRIM: There are over three months in a row of job losses is classically the sign of recession...
ROMANS: It's one of them. Six months in a row of declining GDP is another one, so when you look at the labor market right here, it would suggest, Kitty, that we are in the midst of a downturn in the economy indeed.
PILGRIM: Well perhaps we'll get all sorts of official labels on it later, but it certainly is very clear what's happening in the economy.
ROMANS: And it feels like one to millions of Americans, even if you skirt right by it, a lot of people are really hurting. PILGRIM: Thanks very much, Christine Romans.
Well time now for tonight's poll: Are you outraged that our country lost 80,000 jobs last month but our government is accepting 65,000 applications for H-1B visas?
Yes or no? Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll bring the results a little bit later in the broadcast.
And also still to come, corporate elites want states to stop punishing illegal employers of illegal aliens and Bill Tucker will have the story -- Bill.
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kitty, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce bluntly argues that states should not be concerned where businesses find its employees or if they're violating federal law in hiring them -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thanks, Bill, we look forward to that.
Also, Attorney General Michael Mukasey seems unaware of the scale of the drug trafficking crisis along our southern border. We'll have that story.
And urgent new efforts to control the increasing trade in weapons across our border with Mexico. We'll have a special report on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Congressman John Culberson tonight describing an invasion of the Tucson area by well-organized and heavily armed drug traffickers. Culberson made those charges at a congressional hearing on the Justice Department budget, charges that seem to catch the attorney general by surprise.
Louise Schiavone reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got a kind of...
LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite these assurances from the attorney general to Congress...
MICHAEL MUKASEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We are about stopping people who are making tons of money out of ruining other people's lives.
SCHIAVONE: One Texas lawmaker says the cross border drug trade around Tucson is thriving and claims the U.S. attorney there is doing little about it.
REP. JOHN CULBERSON (R), TEXAS: If you are arrested by a border patrol agent in the Tucson sector carrying less than a quarter ton of dope, you have a 99.6 percent chance of being home in time for dinner and never going to jail because the U.S. attorney's office is not prosecuting them.
SCHIAVONE: Culberson says border patrol agents told him that U.S. attorney Diane Humetewa alerted them she would not prosecute anyone arrested with less than 500 pounds of dope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're laughing at us. I mean the smugglers are laughing at us out there. And it's a terrible problem.
SCHIAVONE: The attorney general responded...
MUKASEY: My experience did not coincide with yours. And I think I need to revisit this by phone or otherwise in so far as this supposed 500-pound threshold.
SCHIAVONE: Culberson is not just concerned about drugs. He says he found this notice tacked up in the Nogales, Arizona border patrol office, indicating the U.S. attorney's office would turn its attention primarily to violent crimes and would not prosecute crimes under the part of the U.S. criminal code that covers illegal entry.
The office of U.S. attorney Diane Humetewa offered no comment to any of this, telling LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, "We have nothing add to what the attorney general has already said."
Culberson raised the same issues in a February letter to Humetewa copied to Mukasey noting, "Your primary duty is to protect our citizens by enforcing our laws and you have clearly failed in that task."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHIAVONE: Kitty, Congressman Culberson whose constituents actually include the parents of President Bush says he has tried to be tactful, to get something done for the citizens of these cross border communities. Also at this week's hearing, Kitty, Culberson asked the attorney general if he would recommend imprisoned former border patrol agents Ramos and Compean for a presidential pardon.
Noting the standard that was used in the pardon for former White House aide "Scooter" Libby, Culberson asked haven't Ramos and Compean already paid a price. Mr. Mukasey responded the president has the power to pardon at any time. But in general such applications go through the pardon attorney's office -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Louise, it's unbelievable you can't get some of this stuff just cleared up and also to revisit this by phone, I think it's such a serious issue, isn't it?
SCHIAVONE: It's incredible to the people who live there. I spoke with the Pima County attorney and she says this is something they've been dealing with for more than a year and what happens is these people who are nabbed with 499 pounds of dope then go on to the custody of the county attorney and so it's the county that is burdened. All of their jails are full. All of their resources are stretched. It's a disaster for people who live in that area.
PILGRIM: Well I'll say it is. Thanks very much, Louise Schiavone. Thanks Louise.
Federal law enforcement officials are now stepping up efforts to combat the illegal arms trade on our border with Mexico. The flow of illegal weapons to the drug cartels is fueling a drug war that threatens the security of this country.
Casey Wian has that report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-three-year- old Victor Veralla (ph) of New Mexico looks like a clean cut college student, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms alleges he's the a leader of an arms trafficking ring that supplied 50-caliber semiautomatic rifles and other weapons to Mexican drug cartels.
WILLIAM NEWELL, ATF SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Make no bones about it there's a war going on in Mexico right now and it's a war for territory and for power between competing drug trafficking organizations. And their weapons of war are these types of firearms right here and they're getting them in many instances here in the United States illegally.
WIAN: ATF agents arrested Veralla this week. Authorities allege his organization smuggled two 50-caliber weapons featured in a recent report by CNN. Veralla was allegedly caught seeking even more fire power.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He tried, was unsuccessful, to purchase a fully automatic M-60 machine gun.
WIAN: In an unrelated case in Arizona this week a task force led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement including several state and local law enforcement agencies and the Mexican federal police seized this weapons cache in Tucson. It included a 50-caliber sniper rifle destined for Mexico.
GOV. JANET NAPOLITANO (D), ARIZONA: Every incident of border violence is of concern. That border is key for Arizona. It needs to be safe. It needs to be secure, so yes, we're devoting a lot of resources there.
WIAN: While U.S. authorities push Mexico to crack down on the smuggling of drugs and people, Mexico wants U.S. help stopping illegal money and weapon shipments.
EDUARDO MEDINA MORA, MEXICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: There's no way we can break the relationship between consumption in the U.S. and tolerance to consumption in the U.S. and violence in Mexico. The other relevant issue here is weapons that are illegally shipped to Mexico from the U.S.
WIAN: Mexican officials believe more than 5,000 people have been killed by drug cartel violence during the past two years, mostly by weapons smuggled from the United States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: Arizona's attorney general says this week's bust is the beginning of an increased U.S. effort to respond to Mexico's concerns. Victor Veralla has not yet entered a plea to the weapons trafficking charges, which could result in a 12 and a half year sentence if he's convicted -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Casey, where is this new cooperation coming from? Why are the U.S. officials suddenly taking this so seriously?
WIAN: Well there was a meeting last month between attorneys general from the border states in the United States and from those counter parts in Mexico. The Mexican officials pleaded with U.S. attorneys general, you have got to get tough on these arms traffickers that are fueling the drug cartel war.
So this is a good faith effort by U.S. law enforcement to address the Mexican concerns. What's going to be interesting to see is whether there's an effort in kind by the Mexican authorities to stop the drug smugglers and the illegal alien smugglers operating in their country -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Well as we point out, there are two sides on this border and each side has to maintain their own side. Thanks very much Casey Wian.
Coming up, new efforts to block state laws that punish illegal employers of illegal aliens, we'll tell you whose behind that challenge.
And racial attitudes in America, how far has this country come since the assassination of Martin Luther King? We'll talk with the author of "Race Card," Richard Thomas Ford. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is stepping up its support for employers of illegal aliens. Now the Chamber filed an opening brief in its appeal to overturn Arizona's employer sanctions law. That law went into effect in January and it punishes businesses that hire illegal workers.
Bill Tucker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER (voice-over): For the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, state laws punishing businesses for hiring illegal aliens are unacceptable and unconstitutional. After losing its initial challenge to a state law in Arizona in federal court the chamber wants to have the law overturned by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Their lawyer argues that to do otherwise "would disrupt a well- established federal scheme for regulating the presence and employment of immigrants in the United States". The Chamber says the federal judge in Arizona got it wrong when he allowed Arizona's law to stand. And that the federal judge in Pennsylvania got it right when he ruled that the city of Hazleton could not pass ordinances sanctioning businesses for failing to follow federal law. Much like Hazleton, Arizona's law would find and or take away the business licenses of companies which violate the law by "intentionally or knowingly hiring an illegal alien". Hazleton's lead attorney says the Chamber is missing an important fact.
KRIS KOBACH, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: There are three district courts in the United States that have ruled on this issue, one in Pennsylvania, one in Missouri, and one in Arizona. Two out of three have ruled in favor of the states and city governments that want to take measures in these areas.
TUCKER: The primary author of Arizona's law says the real issue for the chamber isn't complicated.
RUSSELL PEARCE (R), ARIZONA STATE HOUSE: It's about cheap labor, its about the bottom line. Well they ignored the fact that America subsidized that cheap labor in the way of billions of dollars in health care, education, criminal justice costs. They ignore all the damage to America because it's about their bottom line.
TUCKER: The Arizona Chamber of Commerce remains a party to the suit, but a spokesperson admits that some of their local chambers are supportive of the law.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: And the State Chamber in fact is working with State Representative Pearce to address some of their concerns about the law as it now stands. And it's hopeful in fact that amendments sponsored by Pearce will be passed.
Now Kitty, this appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is interesting because we now have appeals in three courts. One in the Ninth, one in the Eighth, and one in the Third, it's the Third Circuit where the case of Hazleton and that appeal will be heard.
PILGRIM: And how soon might we see these appeals be heard?
TUCKER: Well Hazleton's the -- likely the most -- the first one we're going to see, an educated guess because they have filed opening briefs. The deadline for that is approaching. It is somewhere between September and November, so probably late fall we'll hear the appeal on that.
PILGRIM: All right, thanks very much, Bill Tucker. Thank you, Bill.
The Bush administration today handed a victory to business special interest groups looking to hire cheap foreign labor over American workers. The new policy allows foreign students with a technology, science, or a math background to stay in the United States for up to 29 months. Now the limit had been 12 months. The extended stay and corporate sponsors will increase the chances for these students to receive the H-1B guest worker visa.
Time now for some of your thoughts.
And, Valerie from Ohio: "Our country lost 80,000 jobs last month; our government is accepting 65,000 applications for H-1B visas. Our government is committing treason against the middle class."
Linda in North Dakota wrote to us: "With another 80,000 Americans losing their jobs in March, why is there a need to bring in foreign workers? Let's take care of Americans first."
And Linda in Texas: "Lou, it would seem that our lawmakers should understand from the latest jobs report that there is now 'no job' an American won't do."
We will hear more of your e-mails a little bit later in the broadcast. Each of you whose e-mail is read here receives a copy of Lou's book, "Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit".
And also, please join Lou on the radio Monday through Friday for "The Lou Dobbs Show". Go to loudobbs.com to find the local listings for "The Lou Dobbs Show" on the radio.
Coming up, race in politics on the campaign trail, Richard Thompson Ford, author of "The Race Card" will join us. And Michigan Democrats make a final decision on whether to hold a new primary. We'll have that story. Three of the smartest political analysts will join us.
And honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Reverend Jesse Jackson was with Dr. King when he was assassinated and Reverend Jackson joins me next.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: That was earlier this hour in Memphis. Al Sharpton with family members of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Forty years ago today, the nation was shocked by Dr. King's assassination.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson was at the Lorraine Hotel with King that evening. He stood just a few dozen feet from where King was when he was shot. Now Jesse Jackson joins us now from Memphis.
Thank you very much for being here, sir.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, PRES., RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: Thank you.
PILGRIM: Forty years, sir. Do you think he would be satisfied with the progress we've made on race relations in this country?
JACKSON: It would be a very mixed bag for him to see 40 years the civil rights activists expanded with the Alabama you know white women couldn't sit on a jury. Blacks and Latinos can vote, 18-year- olds can vote. He would be proud of political progress.
On the other hand, the abounding poverty and the needless war would sap his strength.
PILGRIM: That is a fair assessment, sir.
Let me read an excerpt from his last speech, which I'm sure you're quite familiar with having been there at the moment but let's review it for our viewers and he made this last speech, which seemed to foreshadow his own death. At the closing of the speech, he said, "Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place but I'm not concerned about that now." And he goes on to say, "I may not get there with you. I may want you to know that tonight, we as a people, will get to the Promised Land."
How much more work needs to be done to achieve that vision, sir?
JACKSON: Well you know it was on the attack, the FBI saw him as a threat to national security. They allowed his home to be invaded and wiretapped and bugged.
On the other hand, today when you see an African American man and a white woman, the conduits for through which a new America is expressing itself 40 years after the right to vote, 43 years as a matter of fact, he would be proud of that.
On the other hand, the abandoned ghettos and barrios, the lack of investment in America, we are losing $3 trillion in the war and really no plan to stimulate the economy and he would be focusing right now on shared economic security for all Americans.
PILGRIM: You know we have presidential candidates today honoring Dr. King. John McCain, Senator Hillary Clinton commemorated this anniversary. They made speeches about Dr. King's legacy.
You're a supporter of Senator Barack Obama, who did not come to Memphis today. Does it surprise you? Do you believe it was a good choice on his part not come?
JACKSON: Well, it was his judgment to make. He felt he was better served by being in Indiana to try to win the nomination and maybe if he does that, he may make a bigger impact. I didn't talk with him so I do not know what his judgment was.
But I do know that all of them must have one thing in common, a commitment to revive our economy, a commitment to end first class jails and second class schools, a commitment to build a coalition of consciousness and again I repeat to end the war and put America back to work.
PILGRIM: We see over and over in the polls that the economy is one of the top interests of all voters and yet race has dominated this campaign season particularly in the last two weeks.
To what extent has Dr. King's work allowed Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to move forward? And in this great discussion of race, which has turned very, very tense in recent weeks, do you think that are we undermining the progress he's made?
JACKSON: Not really. I think we must move from racial discussion to racial healing. That involves ending the structural disparities and closing the gaps. People of color have high infant mortality rates, shorter life expectancy, higher employment rate, advanced education and more jailed in these prisons.
And so if we're going to close the mortality rate, that means health care, a commitment for life expectancy of health care. To avoid so much unemployment, reinvest in building bridges and roads and schools. Force a stimulus bottom up.
That would satisfy Dr. King's dream. Racial justice here will do more than that. Economy security for all Americans whether you're in Appalachia or whether you're in Hollywood or Englewood.
PILGRIM: Reverend Jesse Jackson, thank you very much for taking time out from this event to join us this evening on the broadcast, Reverend Jesse Jackson.
JACKSON: Thank you.
PILGRIM: More conversation about race and politics in this country with Richard Thomas Ford, author of "The Race Card."
And as we reported, Barack Obama was notably absent from today's ceremonies for Dr. King in Memphis. We'll talk that with our panel.
Also, "Heroes" -- tonight the story of an immigrant to this country who served the United States in uniform in Iraq. We'll bring you that story when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Race and politics, it's an issue that has dominated the campaign for months. But is race overshadowing other important issues such as Iraq, health care, the economy?
My next guest says the discussion about race relations race is long overdue. But he says playing the race card prohibits open and honest dialogue.
Richard Thompson Ford is the author of "The Race Card." And Richard Thompson Ford joins us now from San Francisco.
Thanks for being with us, sir.
RICHARD THOMPSON FORD, AUTHOR, "THE RACE CARD": Thanks for having me.
PILGRIM: I'm very intrigued with your book because it's very open and it's very honest about the discussion of race in this country. I would really like for the benefit of our viewers to read a quick quote from it so they understand your ideas.
And let me read this: "The race card threatens to undermine public support for civil rights and other policies that promote social justice. It breeds and exacerbates distrust between the races, making genuine claims of racism less credible. It helps to fracture society into mutually suspicious and antagonistic social groups and it distracts attention from the real issues involved in conflicts that mislabeled as instances of bigotry."
How often does this happen in this country?
FORD: Well, I think it happens too often and it happens in a couple of different ways. Sometimes people play the race card at of simple opportunism. They do so just in order to gain some unearned advantage or to get out of some deserved punishment. The O.J. Simpson trial is the obvious example of that. But I think we've seen others.
Recently in Detroit the mayor Kwame Kilpatrick seemed to have used the claim of racism in order to avoid some serious charges that were leveled against him.
But more importantly, it happens when there are real racial injustices that need to be addressed but there's no racist to blame for them and too often I think in order to get attention for these real problems in our society, people are too quick to jump to calling someone a bigot or a racist.
PILGRIM: You know one of the intriguing examples that you give in your book I would like to bring up now. You say that there is a concept of racism without racists. You used the example of hurricane Katrina and the government's failure to adequately respond to this disaster. Is that an example of playing the race card?
FORD: Of innocence, yes. You'll remember after the terrible incident in New Orleans, the rapper Kanye West, for instance, said that George Bush doesn't care about black people. Now this came out of I think understandable frustration at the devastating effects of Katrina and they were in fact disproportionately by African Americans but a discussion about George Bush's state of mind or what's in his heart wasn't, that's not the issue.
The real issue is neighborhood segregation that left African- Americans disproportionately in the low lying areas of New Orleans, worst hit by the storm, joblessness and poverty in the black community that left African-Americans without the resources to get out before the storm hit. And neglect for social programs and for our public infrastructure that made the aftermath of Katrina worse than it had to be.
These are real and objective social problems that demand our attention. But saying that George Bush is a racist really distracts attention away from those problems that we can work together to solve and focuses it instead on a question that really can't be answered and it is unfair I think. There's no evidence that Bush is a racist.
PILGRIM: You know we've heard in the context of the political campaign, we've heard some very strong language and racist language.
Let me move forward and talk about the press conference that Senator Barack Obama's Trinity Church in Chicago held. They held a press conference about the whole controversy about Pastor Jeremiah Wright and Reverend John Thomas who is the president of the United Church of Christ made some comments, let's listen to those.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JOHN THOMAS, PRES., UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: It's requirement of a sacred conversation first that we acknowledge sacredness in one another. That doesn't mean that our language is always going to be gentle and quiet and graceful because racism is not gentle and quiet and graceful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: It seems to be that your book would disagree with that statement.
FORD: Well to some extent, yes. I do think that we need to have a serious conversation about race. And I agree that sometimes that will require tough language and that we shouldn't mince words when serious issues are on the table.
But at the same time, I don't think that justifies incendiary statements and falsehoods. You know the idea, for instance, that AIDS was a government plot to harm the African American community. That kind of language has no place in civil discourse. And so I do think we need to have tough language about racism in a serious conversation. But there are some things go beyond the bounds of civil discourse.
PILGRIM: A very lovely book, a very good read. Richard Thompson Ford, thank you very much for being on the program tonight.
FORD: Thank you.
PILGRIM: A reminder now to vote in tonight's poll: Are you outraged that our country lost 80,000 jobs last month but our government is accepting 65,000 applications for H-1B visas?
Yes or no? Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll bring you the results in just a few minutes.
Coming up at the top of the hour, the "CNN ELECTION CENTER" with Campbell Brown.
Campbell, what are you working on?
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Kitty.
To mark the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination, we are continuing CNN's day long conversation with black America but we're doing it through the prism of politics. We're going way beyond the race and gender of the presidential candidates to look at what progress we're making on Dr. King's priorities of ending racism and poverty and more.
That's all coming up at the top of the hour, Kitty. PILGRIM: We look forward to it, Campbell. Thanks very much.
Still to come, will the voice of Michigan primary voters ever be heard? We'll have what could be the final word on this long running showdown.
Also Senator McCain says he was wrong to oppose a Dr. Martin Luther King Day. Why the change of heart? We'll discuss that and more with our political panel.
Also, "Heroes," our weekly tribute to the outstanding men and women serving this country in uniform.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: All three presidential candidates paid tribute to the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's death today.
Senator John McCain accepted an invitation to speak in observance of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which King headed, by the way.
Senator Clinton traveled to the city where Dr. King died and spoke of Dr. King's legacy to supporters at a Memphis church.
And Senator Barack Obama decided against going to Memphis today, campaigning in Indiana. He said, "It's important to spread the message that Dr. King's work remains unfinished."
Joining me now, three of the country's best political analysts, all CNN contributors; Republican strategist and former White House political director under President Reagan is Ed Rollins; Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the "New York Daily News" is Michael Goodwin and Democratic strategist and superdelegate for Senator Hillary Clinton, Robert Zimmerman.
Gentlemen, hanks for being here.
What do you make of Obama's decision not to go to Memphis, Robert?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think it's very appropriate and I think more than his being in Memphis - more than his being in Indiana, is the fact that his message was so important in the poignancy of it and in fact, really talking about fact that the Martin Luther King observance today which should touch all of our lives really should be spread throughout the nation so I can certainly respect his decision to go there and certainly respect the message he carried there.
PILGRIM: Michael, any thoughts?
MICHAEL GOODWIN, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: I believe he's trying to sort of not be black in the sense to not be categorized to be the black candidate. I think I mean it had to be a conscious decision for him alone not to go to Memphis on this day.
Now, he did talk about King, of course. He talked about Robert Kennedy, who went to Indiana when King was assassinated and gave a heart felt speech that was well known. Nonetheless, I think it was a noteworthy decision by Obama not to go to Memphis.
PILGRIM: And John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King. He addressed that today. Let's listen to what he said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can be slow as well to give greatness its due, a mistake I myself long ago, I myself made long ago when I voted against a federal holiday in member of Dr. King. I was wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: All right. He says he was wrong. Ed, thoughts on how the candidates handled all of this today?
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think to a certain extent, you know, McCain is not going to win anybody in that audience. I think it was great to go honor Martin Luther King. He was a great American. He could have honored him by voting for the bill that was signed by Ronald Reagan.
But at the end of the day, Obama doesn't have to do that. That's Obama's constituency. He's still carrying the flame and he's obviously going to do very well among African American voters. John McCain says he's going to go campaign everywhere among African- American voters. He is not going to get African-American voters. He ought to go see friend Reverend Dobson and a few other who potentially will vote for him.
PILGRIM: Let's move onto what American's think is the biggest issue in this campaign and that's the economy. Let's look at some of the poll numbers. This is a CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll. The most important issue, economy, 42 percent, by a very wide margin; Iraq at 21 percent, health care 18 percent, terrorism 10, immigration at seven.
Now today we had some tough news on the economy, 80,000 jobs were lost last month, the unemployment rate at 5.1 percent. The economy is the most important thing to Americans. Do you think that we are there sufficiently in the campaigns, Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: I think we're just beginning to address the issue and I think it's really - you know we talk about Dr. Martin Luther King and his legacy and his vision for America, and certainly eradicating poverty and giving everyone equal opportunity is part of that. You know this economic news today is total so far of 232,000 job losses during this year alone primarily in the construction and manufacturing industry which is where you begin your climb to the middle class. This country -- our government has failed this country with the economy and with all of John McCain's rhetoric of independence, he is following the Bush Herbert Hoover strategy of hands off. Leave it alone to the private sector.
PILGRIM: Well, this begs the question, will John McCain bear the brunt of the economic downturn because of President Bush?
GOODWIN: Absolutely. I think every Republican at every level running this year will bear the brunt of the economy and somewhat Iraq as well depending how that goes but certainly the economy is front and center now, the biggest burden for any Republican.
I disagree with Robert though to the extent that Democrats have answers. I think that the economy is so complicated and so intertwined internationally so much with the deficit and the debt that it's very difficult to come up with a solution to all of these problems.
I think the Democrats are going to have their hands full. McCain will be able to attack their problems as big government, higher taxes, you know that sort of argument which may help him dig out from under his own deficit on this.
PILGRIM: Well, it's my impression that Americans are listening with a finer-tuned ear to the economic proposals in this campaign because everyone is hurt so much in this economy.
ROLLINS: I think everyone thought it was going to be all about the war. I mean for the last two years that's all anybody's talked about. Clearly, it's not about the war anymore. That's a secondary factor, an important one but a secondary factor.
Unless you connect with ordinary voters and you convince them that you have some methodology or some through process or advisers that are going to basically move us forward, I don't think anybody is going to do well in this process. To date, neither side has articulated a very effective message.
ZIMMERMAN: The proof of Ed and Mike's point is the fact that every poll now shows John McCain running even with Obama and Clinton or even slightly ahead and that really the message behind that is the Democrats are not getting their message out, their reform proposals out. But there's no question when all is said and done, Democrats are going to call for greater activism on the part of the government to address the tremendous inadequacies that confront our working middle class today.
PILGRIM: Certainly.
Let's look at a Pennsylvania poll because that's the next one coming up, of course, and Democratic primary voters choice for a nominee, Clinton 51, Obama 40, unsure nine and then we have also news this week of the enormous amount of funds, $40 million for Obama last month. We're seeing this enormous push onto this primary.
What do you think? Robert, I'm asking you.
ZIMMERMAN: Glad to lead with that one. Look, Pennsylvania is clearly a must-win for Hillary Clinton. She's doing well and building a very unique coalition actually amongst women and middle and lower income white and blue collar workers and it's been a very effective coalition in Pennsylvania for.
But the point is, Barack Obama is outspending her. He raised an extraordinary $40 million this month. Hillary Clinton raised $20 million which is not chump change and she's won even though she's been outspent in the past. This is a big test in Pennsylvania.
GOODWIN: I'm struck by the personal income of the Clintons and the fact that she is appealing to working class people. I mean the disconnect is amazing. Bill and Hillary Clinton made $110 million in the last six or seven years.
PILGRIM: I think you could honestly say that none of the candidates falls into the middle class.
GOODWIN: But it's extraordinary. I mean $110 million boggles the mind. I mean you know I guess she doesn't need that $5 million back that she loaned her campaign.
ROLLINS: I work for a poor candidate and he did very well, Mike Huckabee. The bottom line here is other polls have this race closing. CNN, not to cast aspersions on the mother ship here, CNN is always a little bit behind in its polling and there's others that have it much closer.
I think Barack Obama definitely has the momentum. If he beats her in Pennsylvania, it's over. I mean she just can wave the white flag and go home and that's their goal obviously.
GOODWIN: And one thing we've seen too, Kitty, as we've seen in other states where there's a gap in the dates when the primaries are actually held. He seems to be siphoning off more and more superdelegates and I said it's the momentum and momentum includes the superdelegates slowly but surely shifting to him and she has a very small lead now. If you look at the delegates overall, if it weren't for New York, she would probably be out of it already.
PILGRIM: We'll let Robert respond to that. Go ahead.
ZIMMERMAN: I think it's actually on target because I said a month ago on this program, I said superdelegates are going to follow the popular vote. And you're now seeing superdelegates ultimately split almost 50/50 because that's pretty much where the vote is here.
This will be decided in the primaries and it will be decided in this open - in the primary process. And that means to have a fair process, Michigan and Florida have got to be included.
ROLLINS: Michigan already said today it's not going to happen. I think the key thing is it may be slitting 50/50. But he's getting some big names. Lee Hamilton, former chairman of the house Foreign Affairs Committee is a very, very important. Jimmy Carter is talking about endorsing. That's a big one.
PILGRIM: We have to hold it there.
Ed Rollins, Michael Goodwin, Robert Zimmerman, thank you.
Still ahead, the remarkable story of an American immigrant who answered the call to serve his adopted country. That's coming up in "Heroes."
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Now, "Heroes," our weekly tribute to men and women serving this country at war. Tonight we bring you the story of Sergeant Omar Hernandez. Hernandez risked his life to save Iraqi soldiers while on a joint patrol with the Iraqi army.
Philippa Holland reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPPA HOLLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sergeant Omar Hernandez came to the United States from Mexico with his family when he was just six months old. When he was 18, he decided to serve his adopted country and join the army.
SGT. OMAR HERNANDEZ, U.S. ARMY: I was raised in the United States, I should serve the United States. It's given so much to me, this is the least I could do.
HOLLAND: An infantry man, Sergeant Hernandez was leading a team of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi national police in June 2007.
HERNANDEZ: It was supposed to be my down day and we got a call on the radio saying hey, we need to go do a census, or whatever, ask people questions, what kind of stuff do they need, how can we help them out more?
HOLLAND: The group came under fire. Wounded, Hernandez told his men to follow him to safety. He turned back and saw the Iraqi national police were also wounded and still in harm's way.
HERNANDEZ: What went through my head was hey, we got to get them out of there. We were still taking fire. I didn't want anybody to pass away on -- under me.
At the time, I didn't see no Iraqis. I didn't see a different group of guys. It was -- at the time, I seen that they were my guys. It could have been anybody and I would have done the same thing. I dragged one -- I dragged one back, put him behind the wall. Went back, grabbed the other one. At the time, it didn't seem like a big deal, just seemed liked I was doing my job, seemed like I was keeping my promise.
HOLLAND: For risking his own life to save others, and for selfless acts of courage under enemy fire, Sergeant Hernandez was awarded a silver star.
Philipa Holland, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Sergeant Hernandez became a U.S. citizen while serving in Iraq. And he hopes one day to join the Army Rangers. But for now, his assignment will keep him at home at Ft. Bliss where he can spend time with his wife and his 18-month-old son. And we wish them well.
Now the results of tonight's poll -- 97 percent of you are outraged that our country lost 80,000 jobs last month but our government is accepting 65,000 applications for H-1B visas.
Time now for some of your thoughts.
John in Illinois: "Hey, Lou, why are we still issuing more and more visas when we are in a recession and don't have enough jobs for our own citizens?"
Jeff in Florida wrote: "I don't see why China goes through the trouble to have industrial spies in our country. We'll eventually outsource the work to them anyway."
And Roberta in Kentucky wrote: "Lou, you shouldn't be so hard on President Bush. He's the best president China ever had."
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 book, "Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit."
Thanks for being with us tonight. Please join us tomorrow.
For all of us here, good night from New York. The special edition of the "ELECTION CENTER" -- "Conversations with Black America," starts right now with Campbell Brown -- Campbell.
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