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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Obama's Challenge; Sotomayor under Fire; Running on Empty; White House Brimming with Czars; Outbreak Spreading
Aired June 05, 2009 - ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everybody.
President Obama issuing a blunt new challenge to Iran's president, even as he tries to open a dialogue with Ahmadinejad. We'll have a special report on the president's efforts to match his rhetoric with reality.
Also the unemployment rate soaring to a 26-year high, but there is good news on the economy, the rate of job cuts is slowing and slowing rapidly. Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor faces new charges that she put race and gender at the center of her judicial philosophy for years.
We'll have that report and examine what some say is the judge's threat to our Second Amendment rights. The subject of our "Face Off" debate here tonight and we'll be joined by three top political analysts.
We begin tonight with the president's new challenge to Iranian President Ahmadinejad. President Obama today declared he has no patience for people who deny history. The president also called on the Iranian president to make his own visit to the Buchenwald (ph) Concentration Camp in Germany which the president toured today. His remarks come two days after Ahmadinejad said the Holocaust is quote, "a great deception." Yesterday president Obama called on Muslims to unite against violate extremism in all its forms. Ed Henry has our report from Dresden, Germany.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Visiting the historic German city of Dresden, the president suggested he's moving quickly after his speech to the Muslim world to build momentum for Mideast peace talks.
BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're not going to happen immediately, but I'm confident that if we stick with it, having started early, that we can make some serious progress this year.
HENRY: Mr. Obama is sending his special envoy, George Mitchell (ph) to the region next week to try and prod Israelis and Palestinians to get the process back on track.
OBAMA: I think the moment is now for us to act on what we all know to be the truth, which is that each side is going to have to make some difficult compromises.
HENRY: After recently pressuring Israel to end settlements in the West Bank, Mr. Obama appeared to try and ease tension on the matter.
OBAMA: Keep in mind that all I have done there is reaffirm commitments that the Israelis themselves had already made in the road map. I'm very sympathetic to how hard it will be, but as Israel's friend, the United States, I think, has an obligation to just be honest with that friend about how important it is to achieve a two- state solution.
HENRY: German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised Mr. Obama's Cairo speech saying it will speed the peace process. In fact she revealed the two leaders privately discussed a potential timetable for Israeli- Palestinian negotiations.
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: We also talked about a possible time frame for possible progress to be made.
HENRY: Asked by a reporter to be more specific about the time line, Merkel did not elaborate and neither would top aides to Mr. Obama.
(on camera): The president praised his own administration for in his words creating the atmosphere for peace talks to potentially get going again. But he noted the U.S. cannot force peace on the parties. It's going to take heavy lifting by both sides to get it done.
Ed Henry, CNN, Dresden, Germany.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: While in Germany today, the president used the word terrorist in a news conference with the German chancellor. That in marked contrast to his speech in Cairo yesterday where the president did not use the word terrorist even once. Today President Obama emphasized the United States and Germany have many common interests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We have a shared interest in battling extremists and terrorists. At the same time as we have a shared interest in upholding broader principles of international justice and that those things are compatible, but it's going to take some time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: The president however did not use the expression radical Islamist terrorists. According to many that more accurately describes the nature of our enemy and the war on terror -- far more descriptive than the word terrorist alone.
We're hearing a lot more about the president's nominee to join the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor and her views on race, gender and the law. Democrats insisting that Judge Sotomayor's comment back in 2001 about wise Latina women was simply a poor choice of words, but today more evidence that race and gender have been at the center of her judicial philosophy for years. Dana Bash has our report from Washington -- Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Lou, Judge Sotomayor herself spent three days on Capitol Hill this week telling senators that wise Latina quote from 2001 that's causing so much controversy was a poor choice of words. But looking through the documents as we have today that she sent to Capitol Hill yesterday, it turns out she has used a version of that quote multiple times in multiple addresses over the years.
Let me give you some examples. First in 1999 a speech then -- quote, "I would hope that a wise woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion."
2002, here's what she said to the Princeton Club, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion."
Now 2004 in a speech on women judges at Seton Hall Law School, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion."
Now the White House says this proves that this concept is part of her stump speech and as the judge actually told senators, it's intended to be an aspirational comment. And Democrats also note this is something that the judge has said before -- was before she was nominated to the circuit court and Republicans didn't complain then.
But Lou, listen to what the Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said about this today. He said, quote, "If it was a bad choice of words, it was a bad choice of words repeatedly". He went on to say "leading one to believe that it probably wasn't just an isolated statement, but a core belief" -- Lou?
DOBBS: It's a remarkable period of time over which she used that expression and when referring to a better -- a wise Latina judge with the richness of her experience suggesting in each instance that she would make better decisions, better judgments than a white male.
BASH: What's interesting about these quotes is she didn't use the white male line in these quotes. She did absolutely in the 2001 speech, but you know looking through and seeing the full context she is talking about, and she's sort of asking questions about the benefit of having somebody of color, a woman on the bench versus somebody who is not.
And she's kind of posing questions. I went back and looked at some of the things that Senator Susan Collins came out of her meeting with the judge yesterday and said, and she did say because she said she was troubled by it. She said that the judge assured her that when deciding cases, she needs to put aside any personal experience that might color her decisions and she said the law is the law.
But, again, it's not clear from these writings entirely and you can bet that these are going to be lots of questions that the senators are going to ask her during the public hearings. Maybe someday we'll get to ask her a question or two.
DOBBS: All right and I look forward to that. Dana Bash, thank you very much.
The government's highway fund is running out of money. This is stimulus? And some might call it the imperial presidency, the Obama administration appointing yet another czar.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The government today released a closely watched report on unemployment. The Labor Department reporting unemployment rose to 9.4 percent last month. That is a 26-year high in the unemployment rate. Employers cut almost 350,000 jobs last month. But there was some good news, the number of job cuts, the lowest since last September and many economists say the economy is beginning to recover.
Vice President Joe Biden today said the unemployment report has encouraging signs and said the administration plans to accelerate implementation of the federal government's massive stimulus package.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BIDEN, (D-DE) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I remain confident that the country is going to emerge in this recession and it's going to emerge stronger and wiser than it was before it went in. We're going to take steps to reform the excesses that brought this economy down to ensure that the benefits of growth and are shared with hard working middle class families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: The vice president, of course, leads the Obama administration's so-called middle class task force set up when the president took office. We haven't heard much about it in the intervening months.
General Motors today said it's selling its Saturn brand to Penske Automotive (ph), which is owned by former race car driver Roger Penske (ph). Terms of the deal not disclosed. Saturn does have 315 dealerships around the country and employs 1,300 people. The sale is part of GM's effort to reorganize itself following Monday's bankruptcy filing and the effective nationalization of the company.
Italian carmaker Fiat tonight a step closer to buying Chrysler -- a U.S. appellate court today approved that sale, but says it's putting on hold until Monday afternoon to allow and appeal the total deal. The court heard documents today in a lawsuit by three Indiana state pension and construction funds that want to block the sale.
The Obama administration is warning the federal trust fund that pays for highway construction will be broke in August unless Congress comes up with as much as $7 billion. There's no money for that fund in the stimulus package, which means that it's very likely we'll have to pay for it with higher gasoline taxes. Lisa Sylvester reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The country's highway trust fund is running near empty. The Federal Highway Administration has notified Congress that the fund needs a five to $7 billon cash infusion by August. Without it road and bridge construction projects will be halted or delayed.
JACK BASSO, ASSN. OF HIGHWAY OFFICIALS: The balance of the fund as of April 30th was about -- in the highway part of it was about $5 billion. The fund spends at this time of the year $3.5 billion a month so you can see that this is going to collide pretty quickly.
SYLVESTER: The primary source of the funds is the gas tax. With a down economy, people are driving less and increased use of fuel efficient cars has also meant less revenue. The Transportation Department in a statement said, quote, "the administration is working closely with Congress to solve this difficult problem and ensure that states have the resources they need to maintain our roads and highways."
But coming up with a quick fix is not easy and ultimately taxpayers will have to foot the bill. One option, take the money from the federal government's general fund, more than $5 billion, another to raise the gas tax. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials is among those lobbying for a 10-cent tax hike from the current 18.4 cents to 28.4 cents a gallon. But tax watchdog groups say middle class families already are struggling to get by.
PETE SEPP, NATIONAL TAXPAYERS UNION: Right now gasoline is one of the few commodities that is still reasonably priced for consumers in this economy, if the price of gas goes up and Congress tries to add another dime to the tax, there's going to be a public revolt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: Well Congress as part of the stimulus package approved $27 billion specifically for roads, bridges and highway construction, so how could they be running out of money? Well the Department of Transportation says that $27 billion in stimulus money already is committed to specific job creating projects and does not help shore up the dwindling operating fund. Lou?
DOBBS: Lisa, thank you -- Lisa Sylvester.
Yet another czar about to move into the power structure of President Obama's administration -- this czar would be charged with keeping executive pay and the financial industry in check. The number of czars now in the Obama administration roughly 20 -- that would amount to almost as many czars as there were in czarous (ph) Russia throughout history -- Louise Schiavone with our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From "Ivan the Terrible" (ph) of the 16th century to Nicholas II (ph) overthrown by revolution in 1917, there were 25 czars in the history of imperial Russia. They enjoyed absolute power, which is why the word has migrated to American politics and President Obama has taken only five months to appoint almost as many policy czars as there were Russian czars over five centuries. Conservative critics say that's ridiculous.
J.D. FOSTER, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: You have some usefulness when you have a very important subject that needs to be dealt with, needs to be focused on for a brief period of time. Having legions of czars carrying on all matters large and small frankly begins to look a little ridiculous.
SCHIAVONE: The next czar is expected to be tapped next week to monitor the pay scales of executives in companies that have received federal bailouts. There are already some 20 policy czars. Their empires include health reform, drugs, the border, energy, urban affairs, bank bailouts, even the Great Lakes. In Russia it was said the czar answered only to God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A woman can sit at the end of the table and still be the head of it.
SCHIAVONE: A White House czar answers only to the president, holding a significant power of persuasion despite the ribbon (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well with the title of czar, you are asking for it, right?
SCHIAVONE: John Walters was drug czar for President Bush armed with a big staff and a major policy voice. He understands the sensitivity about the title.
JOHN WALTERS, FRM. DIR., DRUG POLICY OFFICE: People have given their lives and risked their lives to make sure there's nothing like a czar ever in terms of someone who is a tyrant.
SCHIAVONE: On Capitol Hill some lawmakers like Senator John Barrasso opposed the czar system. He describes them as unaccountable puppet masters, saying of environment czar Carol Browner (ph) quote, "she has not been confirmed by Congress and there is no way for Congress to hold her accountable for her actions."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHIAVONE: Lou, analysts say the policy czar is an information funnel to the president, really more a special assistant than anything else. Maybe it's time to call the policy czar exactly that -- Lou.
DOBBS: All right, Louise, thank you very much -- 20 -- 20 some- odd czars, it's amazing. Thank you, Louise Schiavone.
Well we'd like to know what you think about all of this. Here's our poll question tonight. Do you think it would be a good idea to point -- to perhaps appoint a czar to control the czars -- a sort of czar of czars, as it were? Yes or no. Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll have the results here later in the broadcast.
A new development in an international custody battle involving an American father and his child in Brazil and the search for traces of Air France Flight 447 -- Brazil and France are now at odds over whether any wreckage of that aircraft has been found at all.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: French and Brazilian officials tonight are at odds over the search for Air France Flight 447 or at least the wreckage of that flight five days after it disappeared over the Atlantic. Brazilian government officials insist their Navy ships spotted floating wreckage from the Airbus 330. But so far they have recovered only a couple of items and they're items that didn't come from the jetliner. French officials say that their searchers have seen nothing at all -- 228 people were aboard that flight that originated in Rio de Janeiro (ph) on its way to Paris.
A New Jersey man who flew to Brazil to regain custody of his son today returned home alone. David Goldman's wife took their son Shaun (ph) to Brazil in 2004 and Shaun (ph) never returned. She died last year during childbirth, leaving Shaun (ph) with his Brazilian stepfather. A judge in Brazil originally ruled that the 9-year-old should be returned to his biological father here in the United States. But then the court said it needs to review that decision and a new ruling in the case is scheduled for next Wednesday.
Tonight the New York City Health Department reported its eighth death from swine flu, New York recording the most deaths of any city in the country. With seasonal flu, elderly people are usually the most vulnerable. But in the case of the swine flu, there is mounting evidence that young people are at the greatest risk. Kitty Pilgrim has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This young patient, age 4 1/2 has had bronchitis for a week and still has a cough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her chest is congested. I think it might be worthwhile to do a flu test.
PILGRIM: Her brother, nearly 7, has also been having respiratory problems for a few weeks, but no fever.
(CHILD COUGHS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chest is clear.
PILGRIM: The in-house flu test by the nurse takes 10 minutes. A procedure not welcomed by the young child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I promise it doesn't hurt. I'm just cleaning your nose.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's just going to put the tissue...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go, good girl. All done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK...
PILGRIM: Pediatrician Judith Goldstein, a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at Cornell Wilde Medical Center (ph) has her own practice in New York. She is seeing an increased number of children coming in with the flu. Dr. Goldstein says she's seeing five to 10 patients a day with the symptoms.
DR. JUDITH GOLDSTEIN, GLOBAL PEDIATRICS: For 5 to 15 is probably the age group where it's most contagious because of the close proximity of these children in school. Under 5 is a higher risk group and if they get sick, they get sicker the younger they are.
PILGRIM: The CDC this week calculates that 60 percent of the cases and 42 percent of hospitalizations have occurred in people between the ages of 5 and 24 years. The second highest hit age group are children under 5. At Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, 200 more patients a day are turning up than during the height of the winter flu season. That is a rise of 30 to 50 percent.
DR. GABE WILSON, ST. LUKE'S ROOSEVELT HOSPITAL: The pattern of spread is more rapid, we're seeing whole schools within days, everyone sort of falling ill. So it's spreading rapidly. Our pediatric volume has just skyrocketed and -- so it's mostly children.
PILGRIM: As opposed to the seasonal flu where the highest hospitalization rates are in the elderly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now the patterns doctors say they are noticing with this illness is there's some protection for older people who may have been exposed to related viruses in the past. Now at this point doctors are assuming that people who come in with the viral illness do have swine flu simply because the season for the common flu is well over by April -- Lou.
DOBBS: Kitty, thank you very much -- Kitty Pilgrim.
Other stories we're following here -- in San Francisco, an underground transformer exploded, flames and smoke pouring out of manholes, more than 4,000 people tonight without power. One building evacuated because of the dense smoke. There are reports of people stuck in elevators, but there have been no injuries reported.
An Indiana man today pleaded guilty to federal charges of intentionally crashing a plane to fake his death. Marcus Schrenker (ph) pleaded guilty hoping to receive a reduced sentence. Schrenker (ph) could face up to 26 years in jail and more than a half million dollars in fines. He parachuted out of a plane over Alabama in January. The plane flew on autopilot until it ran out of gas and then crashed in Florida -- luckily no one was injured.
Two crewmembers aboard the international space station today completed a successful space walk. An American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut installed new antenna on the walk that lasted nearly five hours. The space walk began a half hour late because sensors in their space suits detected high levels of carbon dioxide. Both of the crewmembers say they felt fine and that space walk went smoothly.
President Obama facing charges his much trumpeted visit to the Middle East was simply an apology tour and Judge Sonia Sotomayor faces new criticism for her views on the Second Amendment. That's the subject of our "Face Off" debate here next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: New concerns tonight about Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor and her rulings on our Second Amendment rights. Specifically can states and municipalities restrict our gun rights? That's the subject of our "Face Off" debate.
The judge's court ruled the Second Amendment doesn't guarantee rights on the state level and joining me now Ian Millhiser from the Center for American Progress who says the judge followed the Supreme Court Second Amendment precedent. Also joining me is James Jacobs, constitutional law professor at New York University who says her opinion was wrong.
Good to have you both here. Professor Jacobs let's -- we're talking about in this instance not guns, but numchucks (ph). Why do you think she erred in that -- in that judgment?
JAMES JACOBS, PROFESSOR, NEW YORK UNIV.: Well I think that the right to bear arms the -- and in the Heller (ph) decision it's a fundamental right. I think the court made that clear and I think American history makes it clear. And I think that the Supreme Court in months to come or in the next term or the term after that will rule that the First Amendment rights apply against states and municipalities.
DOBBS: All right -- Ian Millhiser, your -- your thoughts?
IAN MILLHISER, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Well I think the only thing we really know about Judge Sotomayor's decision is that her Second Amendment decision shows that she knows how to follow the law. There are two very old Supreme Court decisions dealing with the Second Amendment. The first said there's no individual right to own guns and the second one said that the Second Amendment doesn't apply to the states.
The Supreme Court last year overruled the first one. They haven't said anything about the second. So the professor may be right that they're going to turn around and overrule the second -- that second decision. But until they do so, Judge Sotomayor did the right thing, which is to say I am a lower court judge. I do not have the power to overturn a Supreme Court decision...
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: Precisely -- that is precisely what the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just did recently. Let's take a closer look at the Second Circuit of Court Appeals decision. Judge Sotomayor part of that three-judge panel referred to the 1886 decision Presser (ph) v. Illinois "The second amendment applies only to limitations the federal government seeks to impose on this right, Heller, a case involving a challenge to the District of Columbia's general prohibition on handguns does not invalidate this long standing principle." Isn't that simply disregarding the Heller decision?
IAN MILLHISER, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: I don't think so. I think that when you have two Supreme Court decisions that deal with two different subjects, one is the subject of what is the right, and the other is the subject of who does the right apply to? Does it apply to Congress, the states or both? A lower court judge simply does not have the power to overrule a Supreme Court decision. And so when the Supreme Court leaves a case in place, a lower court judge has to follow it. They have no choice.
JAMES JACOBS, PROFESSOR, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: I think that might be a little bit too strong, that it doesn't have the power. I think it was within her discretion and it would have been a reasonable decision to have taken the next step and to have applied the Heller decision to the states and localities as the ninth circuit did and did very persuasively.
DOBBS: Here is an expression from Judge Sotomayor, as she signed on to a 2004 decision, U.S. versus Sanchez Villa in which a panel of judges declared straight forwardly, the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right. Ian? What do you think?
MILLHISER: I think that's a function that that decision was in 2004, which is four years before the Heller decision. Heller changed the landscape. So things that were true about the second amendment in 2004, when Judge Sotomayor correctly wrote those words are no longer true because, again, she must follow Supreme Court precedent. And so before 2004, the Supreme Court has said that there was not a fundamental right under the second amendment, now she has to work within the Heller framework and that means that she has to follow that decision. I have every confidence that she will.
JACOBS: I would agree with that. Before Heller, that was the mainstream position, but after Heller, everything has changed. We're really now just at the very beginning of jurisprudence, constitutional law on the second amendment. There will be a lot of decisions facing the court in the next 10 years and we'll see what Heller has brought.
DOBBS: Antonin Scalia wrote this, "There seems to us no doubt on the basis of both text and history that the second amendment conferred an individual right to keep and bear arms," which was the foundation, of course, of the Heller decision and it's impact. The decision seems absolutely clear, yet there seems to be a great effort within the courts and amongst some judges to make the second amendment something to abviscate (ph) rather than illuminate to give full force to that individual and powerful fundamental right. Is that going to be the contest in the next several years before the Supreme Court?
JACOBS: Yes, I think that's true and I think that that has been consistent with the whole 20th century jurisprudence on the second amendment as the courts have been very, very resistant to recognizing an individual right to keep and bear arms and we continue to see a lot of that resistance.
DOBBS: Ian, your thoughts?
MILLHISER: And if I could just say, I agree with a lot of what the professor had to say. I think that Heller left a lot of questions open that hadn't been decided. Heller, for example, said that the government can still ban guns in sensitive places. Now, is a bank a sensitive place? Is a street corner a sensitive place? Is a liquor store a sensitive place? There's all kinds of places where gun violence occurs and we don't know yet what the Supreme Court is going to say about those places.
DOBBS: Yes and of course there's one very sensitive place and that's the city of Chicago, where there's been an extraordinary number of deaths and murders of young people in that city. Yet, Chicago, itself, one of the strongest, strictest gun control cities in the nation. This is an argument as between also legislation and the role of the courts as well, is it not, Professor.
JACOBS: It is. It is. And so we face some important questions here, about how much deference should be gimp to localities in making their own decisions and how much the constitution requires a certain solution here.
DOBBS: All right, Ian Millhiser, the bill of rights, should we permit the delusion of any of those rights?
MILLHISER: I think we shouldn't permit the delusion of them. But the point I need to make about Judge Sotomayor is she did not do that, what she did is following a Supreme Court precedent which said if the second amendment does not apply to the state and until the Supreme Court overturns that precedent, that's the world that she had to live in.
DOBBS: Ian Millhiser, thank you very much. Professor James Jacobs, thank you very much.
New evidence that Judge Sotomayor's comments about wise Latina women was more than just poor word choice and who is more popular, Nancy Pelosi or Dick Cheney? Well, it isn't Nancy Pelosi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: A new opinion poll shows former Vice President Dick Cheney to be more popular than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The "USA Today" Gallup poll shows 37 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the vice president, 34 percent a favorable opinion of Pelosi. The poll was taken shortly after the vice president delivered a strong defense of the former Bush administration policies against terrorism. Meanwhile House Speaker Pelosi has been facing strong criticism after she asserted the CIA misled her on the issue of waterboarding, and assertion that the CIA denies.
Joining me now, three of the best political analysts, Republican strategist, former White House political director and CNN contributor, Ed Rollins; New York bureau chief for the "Washington Post," Keith Richburg, and Democratic strategist CNN contributor Robert Zimmerman.
Let's start with Israel, Iran, and President Obama. How did he do?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think the Cairo speech truly was a speech of historic proportions and I think it was significant both in terms of reclaiming our relationship with the Muslim communities throughout the world, the Muslim states throughout the world and also in a very pragmatic, strategic reports beginning the process of trying to bring Israel and the Palestinians to the table.
DOBBS: Keith?
KEITH RICHBURG, WASHINGTON POST: I think it was a good speech. I think the question is going to become the implementation of it. You know he hit all the right notes. He let the Arab world know there's a new policy coming out of Washington. He said specifically things like we don't torture, et cetera, all the touch points. He made a big point of talking about the settlements which I think really was something that audience wanted to hear. Now the question is what happens next? Can he really pressure the Israelis to stop expanding the settlements? That's going to be the real test. That's what people are waiting for.
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: This was his version of if I had a dream speech. He gave the speech all through the campaign America could be a better place if you elect someone like me. This was the world could be a better place if we all love each other. The words are good, if I was a young Muslim or a young Muslim woman particularly I would be very happy with the speech. If it was the president of the Egypt or one of the other autocratic states, I might not be so happy. I think the key thing here is how do you get these two sides to the table. I don't think he was kind. If I was an Israeli, I would be very concerned. I think he basically gave a green light to the Iranians that they can go ahead and have their nuclear reactor, and I think to a certain extent the concept of no place in the world's going to have nuclear weapons is absurd, and all women are going to be equal in the Muslim countries is absurd. It was nice rhetoric and he's good on the rhetoric.
ZIMMERMAN: But you know something Ed? I think while I agree with you the rhetoric was beautiful and I think it was important from that perspective, we shouldn't underestimate the importance of reaching out to the young, Muslim communities throughout the world because so much of the population, the Muslim population is so young. I think likewise and I think it's very significant that he took the Arab countries to task for not more aggressively, not progressively supporting the Palestinian community and using them like a political football, and also a significant role of rousing the Arab nations to address the dangers Iran presents. DOBBS: Let's turn to Sotomayor. The vice president's choice to join the Supreme Court, her comment, "I would hope that a wise woman with a richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion," in 2001 saying then a white male judge and by implication in each of the previous times as well as subsequent times. How could the White House or anyone else for that matter come out and say it was a poor choice of words when a parent, one would think at least, ostensibly, they knew that this was a bulwark of her speeches over a seven to eight period.
ZIMMERMAN: I am in complete agreement with you Lou. I think the White House made a mistake in saying it was a poor choice of words. In fact the statements she has made and the speeches she has given were well known by the Senate Judiciary Committee when they reviewed her nomination and not one senator from either party challenged or questioned them. What we're dealing with is not an issue of substance, but a political talking point that I think is trying to be used to score some political points and undermine her candidacy.
DOBBS: If position were otherwise and President Obama had appointed a white male who had said the same thing of a Latina woman judge, what would be the reaction, Keith?
RICHBURG: I don't think a white male would have said it that way.
DOBBS: So this is our hypothetical. Indulge me.
RICHBURG: Well, again, I think that's the specific point.
DOBBS: One wouldn't have thought a wise Latina woman would be foolish enough to say what she did either?
RICHBURG: Not necessarily, because African-Americans speak about their ethnic identity. Latinos speak about their ethnic identity. Asian Americans go to Asian conferences and speak about their ethnicity.
DOBBS: As superior beings?
RICHBURG: Well nobody's talking about superior beings.
DOBBS: She said very specifically, yes, actually she did. She said a better conclusion than someone in a superior position.
RICHBURG: Superiority is another thing. I think what she was responding to --
DOBBS: I didn't say superiority. I said superior position.
RICHBURG: She was reacting to --
DOBBS: All I need is an answer.
RICHBURG: I'm trying to give you one.
DOBBS: All right.
RICHBURG: She was playing off the old remark of Sandra Day O'Connor I think it was saying a wise man and a wise old man would reach the same conclusion. But she went on to say that a Latina woman would reach even a better conclusion because she has had that life experience of racism I don't think that makes her a racist, another David Duke, I think that went way over the top.
DOBBS: David Duke? I didn't hear that one.
RICHBURG: She was compared to David Duke by Rush Limbaugh I think.
DOBBS: If she's a David Duke, we should know about it.
ROLLINS: I'm not quite sure who said it. But to me it's irrelevant. This is not the issue on her, the issue on her is look at her cases. She's got a lot of years on the bench and my sense is she's more moderate on criminal cases, which are important to me. She hasn't had a lot of the social issues. She's going to get confirmed. I think at the end of the day, Republicans can question her, set her record basically make sure that she gets a sense of these issues. But my sense is she's replacing Souter who never was a good build for us anyway.
DOBBS: You have seen it in political terms.
ZIMMERMAN: Even in terms of policy issues, your point's very well taken. In 90 percent of her decisions on race related claims she went with the majority of the judges and issues involving on claims involving compensation regarding race, 8-1, she voted against compensation.
DOBBS: You know what? We're going to talk about your new Democratic friend in the senate when we come back in just a moment and we're going to try to judge on what you think he might try to vote on her confirmation. We'll be right back with our panel. Stay with us. The suspense is building.
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DOBBS: After meeting with Judge Sotomayor yesterday, Senator Arlen Specter, Democrat of Pennsylvania, said he was going to be reserving his judgment on her nomination. Are you having a problem with your new senator?
ZIMMERMAN: I'm willing to invite anyone here and a few others to dinner in New York. My treat.
DOBBS: There are more than just a few folks who can say that.
ZIMMERMAN: That's why I'm saying it.
If Arlen Specter votes against Judge Sotomayor, I have every confidence, because he's not just evaluating her records. Democrats are evaluating him and he's not holding up all that well. DOBBS: What is holding up well here? This president and his administration has put forward energy, they have put forward immigration reform now, thank you very much Senator Reid and they put forward health care as an agenda for the year. What are the odds, Keith?
RICHBURG: He seems to be trying to tick off every box he talked about during the campaign at least by putting the proposals out there, I think he could be overloading the circuits here. I think health care is the main one. That's the one they want to put the White House energy on, the focus on. If they can get something done with health care, he can claim specific thing that the Democratic constituency and a lot of independents elected him to do and the other things could get put on the back burner.
ROLLINS: He's overloading the Congress to start with. The Congress cannot possibly handle this kind of an agenda. And these are the guys that are going to be up in the 2010 and they're going to start getting nervous. They're spending so much money at record levels that they're going to start hearing from their constituents about this stuff. The whole thing about health care, there's still $1.6 million or trillion dollars they have to find to pay for this thing. Does not work.
DOBBS: That's a conservative estimate.
ZIMMERMAN: They're losing control of the message with so many agendas hitting at once. There's a real concern about whether they in fact, are keeping the message clearly focused, which is revitalizing this economy. They have to make the health care program, economic vitalization. They've not made that case yet.
DOBBS: The good economic news today, showing some strength in the economy. And that is welcome news for every single one of us. The administration with four months in office wanting to claim its policies have led us to that -- that sign of strength is remarkable.
ROLLINS: Especially 9.4 percent unemployment. People understand unemployment. Every time they say 25 years ago, I was there when it was 25 years ago. I watched the staggering statistics that are still going to go up for another year or two.
DOBBS: But the economy itself, showing strength and resilience, if all the conditions are going to be met amongst them with non- interference with that resilience and that strength. Thank you, gentlemen. Appreciate it.
Coming up at the top of the hour, Campbell Brown -- Campbell?
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Lou.
Tonight, we're going to talk about what some conservatives are doing attacking the press, blaming reporters for President Obama's popularity. Is it a valid argument? Or is it time they get on a new case?
Plus, how could the Air France jet that just fell out of the sky vanish? It's been four days, not one piece of wreckage has been found. Tonight's newsmaker interview is an expert who his going to give us some clues as to what she think may have happened.
Also our great debate, did the president undercut the U.S. military by saying the U.S. made mistakes after 9/11? We'll talk about that as well. All ahead, top of the hour, Lou.
DOBBS: That's interesting. E.J. Deon in the "Washington Post" saying it's a right wing media so we'll watch to see how you square all that.
BROWN: We'll see how the debate pans out.
DOBBS: All right. Thanks, Campbell; Campbell Brown.
In Heroes tonight, an army reserve sergeant who saved the life of his squad leader while under constant enemy fire.
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DOBBS: Time now for Heroes, our weekly tribute to the men and women who serve this nation in uniform. Tonight, the story of Sergeant John Marra, honored for saving the life of his squad leader during a dangerous mission in Iraq. Brooke Baldwin has his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Army Reservist John Marra is re-adjusting to life, life outside of the military, a life in Michigan that changed while he was away. The state's economy has been through a war of its own.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Little bit fast --
BALDWIN: He's settling into a downsized home near Detroit with his son Nicholas and wife Kimberly. The Marra family hasn't been together for a long time.
SGT. JOHN MARRA, U.S. ARMY RESERVE: We missed each other. I've only been there for one of his birthdays. You know? And so we have a lot of catching up to do.
BALDWIN: 5-year-old Nicholas might not know it, but his dad is a hero. October 24th, 2007, Baiji, Iraq, Military Police Sergeant Marra and his unit were training replacement troops.
MARRA: This was a very dense urban area, high buildings all around us, narrow alley, perfect for an enemy attack. The fourth truck was struck by a large IED that flipped it up into the air and on to its side.
BALDWIN: Marra was called on to serve as medic, a first for the 29-year-old reservist. Inside the Humvee, the squad leader Christopher Blackston was unresponsive with a weak pulse and barely breathing. Marra inserted an air passage and performed continuous CPR.
MARRA: This was the most major thing where, you know, had control of the medical situation. I'd never been in that spot before. I'd always sort of been directed what to do.
BALDWIN: A split second decision for Marra and fellow soldier, Staff Sergeant Chris Riley. The wounded squad leader was transported to the back of an unarmored Iraqi police vehicle and raced across one of the most dangerous cities in the area, under constant enemy fire.
MARRA: We were being chased by another car. Sergeant Riley had security. He had his rifle up. I was doing CPR on Sergeant Blackston, trying to do intravenous fluids and stuff. It was a little hard to do when we were bouncing around like that.
BALDWIN: Squad Leader Blackston survived and to this day he and Marra stay in touch, talking about his experiences at war and his year training troops with the "Operation Warrior Training Program" at Fort Bragg, have helped him to readjust to civilian life.
There is another major adjustment on the horizon for the Marra family. Wife Kimberly will leave Michigan for the job security of a career in the military. She recently joined the army and leaves for basic training in August.
MARRA: I just hope the people are aware of some of those sacrifices that the families make. That's who I believe is -- really needs the hero, the hero accolades, is the families. It's very important. We couldn't get through it without them.
BALDWIN: Now Sergeant Marra will stay at home to do that catching up with Nicholas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: What a story. Before Sergeant Marra left for Iraq, he worked for a time at Chrysler's global engine plant in Michigan. You can imagine now, hours at that plant have been cut. He says he wants a job in law enforcement but says economic conditions are so tough that any job is hard to find these days. While Sergeant Marra searches, he says he plans on taking advantage of the new GI bill to help him get an education. Our hero tonight. Lou.
DOBBS: Brooke, a great story, thank you very much.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
DOBBS: The army has given special permission to share some good news with our hero. It is my honor and privilege, Sergeant John Marra, to tell you that your commanding officer received orders today that you have been promoted to staff sergeant. Congratulations. We thank you. We thank your wife. And all who serve this nation in uniform. Congratulations, sergeant.
Tonight's poll result, 61 percent of you do not think it would be a good idea to appoint a czar to control the czar, a czar of czars is apparently not a great idea.
Time now for some of your thoughts.
Michelle in Arizona, "Lou, I do not understand how a nation that has sacrificed so much for the freedom of others now has a president that apologizes for his people."
Gary in Ohio, "It's time to protect American jobs and stop kissing the rear ends of every country on earth. Our government put overseas jobs above American jobs and look where it got us."
Audrey in Washington, "Thank you for your strong support of the Second Amendment. No way this 80-year-old grandmother will give up her 38 revolver."
Send us your thoughts to loudobbs.com. We'd love to hear from you. And each of you whose e-mail is read here receives a copy of my book, "Independent's Day." And a reminder to join me on the radio, Monday through Friday s for the Lou Dobbs Show 2 to 4 p.m. each afternoon on WOR 710 Radio here in New York. Go to loudobbsradio.com to get local listings for the show in your area.
Thanks for being with us. Good night from New York.
Now, Campbell Brown.
BROWN: Tonight, hear the questions we want answered. Is blaming the media a cop out? Conservatives on the attack after the president's big speech, saying reporters are given him a free pass. Do they need a new argument?
Plus, the great debate. Did the president's words undercut the military at a time of war?
9/11 was an enormous trauma to our country. The fear and anger that it provoked was understandable.
