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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Six British Soldiers Killed in Iraq; Bush Proposes New Aid Package for Pakistan; Israel Arrests Dozens of Suspected Hamas Members
Aired June 24, 2003 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Tuesday, June 24. Sitting in for Lou Dobbs, Kitty Pilgrim.
KITTY PILGRIM, GUEST HOST: Good evening, everyone. The deadliest day of combat for coalition troops in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Six British soldiers were killed, eight wounded, two separate incidents near the southern town of Amarah. Military officials say there have also been more attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now with more -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty, as you said the deadliest day of combat since the fall of Saddam Hussein April 9 involving the coalition forces.
Defense Secretary -- British Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon told the British parliament that these attacks against British soldiers occurred while the soldiers were training Iraqi police in the town of Majir al-Kabir (ph).
What's unusual about this is it's happening in the south where the Shiite population has been fairly welcoming of the U.S. and coalition forces, not in the north where there have been a series of hit and run style guerrilla attacks.
Today, at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld again said that he would not allow what he called dead-enders to derail the coalition's mission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: They're making progress against the dead-enders who are harassing coalition forces. Just as they were unable to stop the coalition advance in Baghdad, the death squads will not stop our commitment to create stability and security in post-war Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, according to one count, this latest ambush was among about 25 attacks on U.S. and British soldiers over the last 24 hours. Three Iraqis were also killed in a firefight with American soldiers west of Baghdad.
This was somewhat of a surprise, as I said, because the conditions in the south were considered to be more secure than in the north but the U.S. insists that their campaign to route out the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime and the people who still support them will succeed. It just will take some time -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Jamie, has the Pentagon released anymore information about the attack on the Iraqi convoy? That ended with five Syrians in U.S. custody.
MCINTYRE: They're not saying much about it except that apparently there are some moves behind the scenes to return those Syrian border guards back to Syria. But what we're hearing from Pentagon sources is that it appears this attack interrupted what was essentially a smuggling operation to get Iraqi fugitives from Iraq to Syria and sometimes back.
All of those targeted, according to intelligence, had close ties to the senior Saddam Hussein adviser who was captured last week, General Mahmud, and it's possible that they were people who had also facilitated General Mahmud's move to Syria, something that he told his interrogators he did back after the fall of Baghdad and along with two of Saddam Hussein's sons and then was forced to come back into the country.
So, it's still a very secretive mission. We're not getting much information about it. The Pentagon said, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said today he'd have more to say when "the dust settles" -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: All right, thanks very much, Jamie McIntyre reporting.
A short time ago, Senator John McCain of Arizona told Wolf Blitzer he's very concerned about the number of attacks on coalition troops in Iraq. Senator McCain is the number two Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The secretary of defense and the administration has to come over and tell Congress and the American people what our commitment is going to be there both in numbers of troops, amounts of money that needs to be spent, and their best estimate as to what we face.
Otherwise, I think there can be problems over time with support because if you keep losing American lives after "mission accomplished" it can present difficulties. But if the American people are spoken to, if I might say a little straight talk, I think they will not only understand but be prepared to bear the burden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Now, President Bush today proposed a $3 billion aid package for Pakistan, one of the United States' closest allies in the war on terror and Mr. Bush thanked Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan when they met at Camp David.
Senior White House correspondent John King joins me live -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Kitty, both that new aid package and the very fact that the meeting was held not here at the White House but up at Camp David a way for this president of the United States to say thank you to a man he says has been unquestionably one of the strongest allies of the United States in the war on terrorism.
Now, when President Bush and President Musharraf get together there is a strange sense of deja vu. It is their fourth meeting and at past meetings and this one as well the key question of course where is Osama bin Laden?
Neither President has the answer right now but President Bush says even though Osama bin Laden is still unaccounted for, that Pakistan is in his view among this country's strongest allies when it comes to the war on terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Since September the 11th attacks, Pakistan has apprehended more than 500 al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists, thanks to the effective border security measures and law enforcement cooperation throughout the country and thanks to the leadership of President Musharraf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, President Musharraf said some months after the war in Afghanistan began that he believed Osama bin Laden was dead. That is no longer the view of the Pakistani government and after some nudging from Washington, both Pakistani police and Pakistani army troops, along with some U.S. operatives as well are now pursuing bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders in remote areas of Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan, President Musharraf giving his word today that is country will do all it can to try to find bin Laden or anyone else associated with him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: Now, if at all any al Qaeda operative is hiding in this region, we are after them. Now whether Osama bin Laden or across the border your guess, sir, will be as good as mine, so I wouldn't like to venture into a guess. But the possibility of his maybe shifting sides on the border is very much there. But as I said we are fully inside the areas which are treacherous areas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: President Bush encouraged President Musharraf to do more to open a dialogue with India, especially over the disputed Kashmir region. The United States is also pressing President Musharraf who was General Musharraf when he took power in a 1999 coup to move more aggressively with Democratic reforms.
And it might seem a bit off topic when discussing the war on terrorism, but the two leaders also at length discussed education reform. U.S. officials say that could be the most lasting benefit of this cooperation with Pakistan if President Musharraf can deliver on his promises to root out anti-American teaching in Pakistan's schools and in its mosques -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: That would be significant, thanks very much John King.
Well, later tonight we will talk with former Defense Secretary William Cohen about the war on terror, security in Iraq, and other issues.
Israel today arrested dozens of people in a crackdown on the radical Islamist group Hamas. The arrests took place as Hamas leaders considered declaring a temporary cease-fire with Israel. Now, the Israeli crackdown was centered on Hebron in the West Bank.
Matthew Chance reports from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, the Israeli army has detained more than 150 Palestinians in what it says is a crackdown on the militant Palestinian group Hamas, most of those arrests taking place in the West Bank city of Hebron.
People were detained in house-to-house searches, blindfolded, their hands bound before they were taken off by Israeli soldiers for questioning. Israeli officials say Hamas activists in Hebron have been responsible for the killing of no less than 52 Israeli citizens in the past 12 months.
But, of course, their decision to crack down on Hamas there now is a very controversial one coming as it does as Hamas leaders apparently move close towards declaring a truce, a suspension in their campaign of violence against Israelis as a result of intensive negotiations with members of the Palestinian Authority.
Understandably, Palestinian officials have been sharply critical of the Israeli arrests, accusing Israel of sabotaging their attempts to get a truce with Hamas. For its part, Hamas leaders say that the detentions complicate any decision on a suspension of attacks, although at this stage according to the Palestinian sources we've been speaking to some kind of truce from Hamas and the other militant groups I still expected.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Well, let's turn to this country. Nebraska, it is reeling tonight from more wild weather. We have a huge tornado and it tore through the town of Coleridge (ph). One man was killed. Nearly a dozen farms were damaged. On Sunday night, four tornadoes swept through the state. They caused extensive damage and killed one person.
Now, Sunday's storms also produced, take a look at this, record size hail. This hailstone is six and a half inches wide and has a circumference of 17 inches. For you information it is not only the largest hailstone ever recorded in Nebraska, it is one of the largest ever reported anywhere in this country.
No tornadoes, lots of rain in Minnesota. Two nights of heavy thunderstorms produced floods in parts of the state. That cut power to tens of thousands of residents.
Well, in Arizona, the out of control wildfire has exploded. It now covers 21,000 acres. More than 200 homes and businesses have been destroyed. Hundreds more have been evacuated. Nevertheless, firefighters say they have made some progress.
Jennifer Reardon from CNN affiliate KVOA joins us now from Tucson, Arizona with the very latest -- Jennifer.
JENNIFER REARDON, KVOA CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kitty, we are at fire base camp which is just at the base of Mount Lemmon, which is where this fire started. Unfortunately today this is the sixth day of a red flag warning for very high winds and they have not let up.
Behind me is an infrared map that is taken every night overnight to kind of assess where the damage is and this is where firefighters tell us the greatest concern is, the southeast side of the fire. This is where they are trying to hold fire lines but basically at night they are fighting and the winds are just right up against their face.
This is a very narrow line at this point, we understand just a couple of feet wide. Their biggest concern with all this wind is that with one spark this fire could turn itself around and head right back into the areas where it's already burned and evacuated homes and obviously destroyed more than 300 homes at this point.
The other concern area is north of this fire where we have seen billows and billows of smoke and we can go ahead and show you some video that was shot from the town of Oracle and the town of San Manuel just about five miles from where this fire is burning now. We understand it is moving in that direction.
At this point no evacuations but there are buildings, of course, that are being structure protection, a lot of bulldozer lines that are being laid today and we understand that, of course, with our winds it is very difficult to fight this fire.
But just to give you an idea of what's happened so far, eight helicopters and two air tankers are working on this fire. So far, they have used 210,000 gallons of water and foam mixed together and 60,000 gallons of retardant.
There are 913 personnel working on this fire at this point and today they did about $4 million to fight still the nation's number one priority as far as an emergency here. And we have had a lot of concern from people with severe breathing issues in those areas because the smoke is so thick and our winds are so heavy and unfortunately, Kitty, there is not a raindrop in sight, so firefighters say this is going to be a long battle.
They're spending the days on the defensive and trying to spend the nights on the offensive but the winds are not letting up even during the nighttime hours, so a lot of concern from residents as this fire creeps closer to not only the biosphere two, which is several miles out still but obviously a major landmark, but towns that occupy about 10,000 people together that are very concerned at this point.
PILGRIM: Jennifer, these pictures look horrific. What are the plans to evacuate the residents from the populated areas that are threatened tonight?
REARDON: They're still telling us that they feel confident those evacuations will not have to happen, although I have to tell you it's not easing anyone's mind as that smoke, as you said, just flares quicker and quicker toward them.
And what they say is that they are basically at this point assessing that area and finding a trigger point. What they need to find is that one point that if the fire should cross that line that will be the turning point to say, hey, we need you guys to get out.
They do say that that won't happen for a while. They're not anticipating it to happen and they will be able to give them at least one to two hours to evacuate their homes, but they're hopeful that with the damage that we have had in this area over the last summer. This area burned.
It was known as the Oracle Hill fire. Once the fire meets that area it will actually burn itself out and not burn as quickly and it's not as rugged terrain, so we're hopeful that that will happen and it's moving very quickly at this point -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: All right, thanks very much Jennifer. Stay safe. That's Jennifer Reardon from CNN affiliate KVOA. Thanks very much, Jennifer.
SARS, it's no longer a threat in China, that's according to the World Health Organization. Officials have lifted their ban on travel to Beijing and they also took the city off the list of areas where the disease is still spreading.
Meanwhile, a Chinese man is now being treated for SARS in a Greek hospital. Health officials are bracing for their worst case of West Nile Virus, speaking of contagions. Officials say record rains this spring will produce more and larger mosquitoes. So far not a single case of West Nile Virus has been reported this year.
Still ahead, hope for hundreds of thousands of Americans suffering from cancer. Dramatic results from a drug already on the market. We'll have the story. Also tonight, airline passengers and their luggage are more closely screened than ever. Cargo, however, is a different story and potentially a dangerous on. Bill Tucker will have that report so stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Stocks moved modestly today following yesterday's big sell off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose almost 37 points, the NASDAQ fell five, the S&P 500 added almost two, and Susan Lisovicz is here with a full report on the market -- Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kitty. Well, the Dow and NASDAQ moved in opposite directions but caution ruled the markets overall. Advancers narrowly beat decliners at the NYSE helped by supermarket giant Kroger which reported higher profits despite lower shelf prices.
Rite-Aid gained even after reporting a wider quarterly loss due in part to its accounting scandal but said with improved cash flow and new financing it could begin operating new stores over the next few years.
Investors cheered Park Place Entertainment's higher second quarter estimates, and Merrill Lynch rallied on a buy recommendation from Prudential.
But techs came under pressure today after chip maker Advanced Micro Devices cut its sales forecast by 14 percent because of slumping demand in Asia. AMD fell four and a quarter percent.
Caterpillar edged down after S&P lowered its credit rating due to unfunded retirement benefits. Walt Disney lost ground after a brokerage cut earnings estimates because of a delayed recovery for its theme parks and low ratings for the NBA finals.
And FedEx shed nearly two and a half percent despite reporting a 19 percent jump in quarterly profits. Investors focused instead on weakness in June volume.
Kitty, a better than expected reading on consumer confidence helped the market stabilize after yesterday's huge sell off but investors remain nervous ahead of tomorrow's key decision by the Federal Reserve on interest rates.
PILGRIM: How are we seeing this nervousness demonstrated, Susan? Are they really more jittery than ever or is this just kind of a normal?
LISOVICZ: You know, there is always that nervousness as you well know before a Federal Reserve decision but it comes at such a sensitive time because the markets took off in mid-March largely on the belief that the economy would improve considerably in the second half of the year and we're just days away from the second half of the year.
PILGRIM: That is painfully obvious. Thanks very much, Susan Lisovicz.
LISOVICZ: Sure.
PILGRIM: OK, later tonight, Alec Klein the "Washington Post" reporter who exposed the troubles inside AOL Time Warner will join us. He's the author of "Stealing TIME." He'll join us later in the program.
Let's check our corporate American criminal scoreboard. Seventy- three executives in all of corporate America have been charged with crimes, 16 from Enron. Sam Waksal is the only executive to be sent to jail and it has been 568 days since Enron filed for bankruptcy. We know you're keeping track.
Well, Sam Waksal and Martha Stewart are among the newest deck of cards circulating on Wall Street. Now, you may recall the military issued its 55 most wanted cards following the war in Iraq. Well, the same premise holds for this deck which, of course, is just a spoof we want to emphasize.
Among the notable personalities, ex-Enron CEO Ken Lay. He is the ace of spades. Former Smith Barney analyst Jack Grubman is one of the jokers and also included Tyco's ex-chairman and CEO Dennis Kozlowski, WorldCom's former CFO Scott Sullivan, and ex-investment banker Frank Quattrone, interesting deck, worth looking at.
Coming up, a government crack down on phony prescription drugs coming into this country. Louis Schiavone reports from Washington.
And then, dangerous cargo in the air, why freight on commercial jets is slipping through the cracks in the security system, Bill Tucker will have that story.
And, our series of special reports on border patrol, that continues. We have a look in to the world of Chinese smuggling immigrants, drugs, much more coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: A broken chunk of insulating foam is the most probable cause of the space shuttle Columbia disaster. That word today from investigators looking into the tragedy. Now that foam broke away during the shuttle's launch. It hit its left wing. It was damaged to the wing to it eventually led to the spacecraft's disintegration. The panel is now writing its final report that's expected to be finished late next month.
NASA today also released this video of the shuttle's astronauts. This tape is one of 28 recovered from the shuttle debris. They were shot by Columbia's crew during the mission. NASA cleared the release of this video with the astronauts's families.
Innocent pleas today in last month's immigrant smuggling case. Truck driver Tyrone Williams and two others were arraigned for their roles in the smuggling operation which killed 19 people. 100 illegal immigrants were crammed into the back of a sweltering truck. The defense plans to blame the deaths on immigration policies of the United States and Mexico.
Twenty Cuban immigrants today are in custody in South Florida tonight. Under U.S. law, Cubans who make it to land here usually are allowed to stay in the United States.
Now our special series on the safety and security of America's borders. Tonight we examine illegal Chinese immigrants. They are one of the largest groups of illegal immigrants in this country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: It was a dramatic example of illegal immigration played out before the television cameras. The golden venture, a rust bucket freighter, ran aground off of Rockaway beach in 1993. The 286 illegal Chinese immigrants had to swim for it, 10 died. These days the experts say don't look for illegal immigrants on ships. The majority are pouring through the world's airports, sometimes on legitimate visas and don't plan on going home. Experts say the new immigrants pay racketeers thousands to get into the country and the smugglers, known as snake heads, make enormous sums to finesse the process. Peter Kwong, author of "The Forbidden Workers," an expert on the history of Chinese immigration, explains how the snake heads operate.
PETER KWONG, AUTHOR "FORBIDDEN WORKERS": They are making $60- 50,000 per person. And they have incentive to make that money. And their information network is emphatic. They would nobody somebody who is bribed in let's say some airport somewhere and next thing you know, 10-15 illegals fly through that airport. Once the situation changed, they'll find out somewhere else. It is a very, very efficient, very well-informed system.
PILGRIM: According to the state department, Chinese have the second largest immigrant group coming to this country. Twenty-nine thousand immigrated legally in the year 2000, estimates on illegals run in the tens of thousands. In China, America still looks like the land of opportunity, as it did after the civil war when Chinese immigrants built the country's railroads as contract laborers under appalling conditions. Some say the system still exploits the immigrants.
CHARLIE CHIN, CHINESE HISTORIAN: The United States stands as a symbol of the land of opportunity for people around the entire world. Ethnic Chinese from many other countries, including the People's Republic of China, are just one group of people who look to the United States for that particular dream.
PILGRIM: Many immigrants work long hours in sweat shops to pay off the price of their passage. That can take years. They say unless U.S. employers stop demand for cheap illegal workers, they'll keep coming. For China, there is no incentive to stop the flow.
KWONG: In so far as china's eyes are concerned, there really is no down side. You get them out. They will be less of an employment problem for you. And then they'll send money back to their relatives. And if they successfully come back to China to invest in some factories. (END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Alien smuggling along the Mexican border was the focus of a hearing on Capitol Hill today. Border security officials testified about those 19 deaths last month in Texas. One lawmaker said officials need to take a new look at immigration to prevent similar tragedies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to take a serious look at what our current border policy has wrought and acknowledge there may be a better way to address the situation. We need to put the smugglers out of business by formulating a more realistic approach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Tomorrow we'll take a closer look at alien smuggling over the Mexican border. The number of arrested tied to smuggling has surged in the last year but the problem is still growing.
Casey Wian will report.
The General Accounting Office today released a report warning about security at the nation's nuclear weapons facilities. The GAO says security needs to be improved in several key areas including overseeing the activities of contractors. Senator Charles Grassley recently sent a letter to the Energy Department saying security of nuclear labs needs to be strengthened. The Iowa Republican cited an incident in which a van was stole from a New Mexico lab. He says investigators ignored the fact a computer containing classified information disappeared at the same time the van was stolen.
Well, let's turn now to tonight's thoughts on what should never be sacrificed for security. And here it is. "They who would give up essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty or security." And that is from Benjamin Franklin.
Congressman Ed Marquis is pushing for tighter security with the nation's air cargo. If he gets his way, every single piece of cargo on passenger planes would be screened and inspected.
Bill Tucker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Passengers are screened, sometimes even stripped. Luggage is subject to x-ray and possible search. Cargo is a different matter. It's not always checked, or inspected. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Dianne Feinstein, have co-sponsored a bill passed by the Senate to improve air cargo security. Representative Schiff, has introduced similar legislation in the House.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: As it stands now, I think only 2 percent of this cargo is screened for explosives. And that is wholly inadequate. So what TSA is doing now is not covering the most glaring hole in our security and we have to step in, I think as the Congress and mandate that they do that.
TUCKER: Roughly half of the load in the belly of a plane is not somebody's baggage, it's air cargo. The airlines do have security procedures for dealing with that cargo and for security reasons, they won't discuss them. But the procedures are on file with the Transportation Security Administration. The air cargo industry supports current legislation because it allows them latitude in tightening security measures. The industry is opposed to what Congressman Ed Markey wants to do which is screen every piece of cargo. Markey is incredulous.
REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Now in the United States we have this two-tiered system where baby shoes are taken off little tiny infants and screened but cargo is put on the same plane that has never seen a machine, never had an individual try to find out what was inside of that huge box. It makes no sense.
TUCKER: The Transportation Security Administration responds by saying they haven't been sitting on their hands. The only cargo allowed on passenger planes is cargo from members of their known shipper program, all of whom have undergone security checks themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: In addition, the TSA is actively spending money to pioneer the development of electronic screening technology for cargo, technology which doesn't currently exist.
PILGRIM: Bill, you raise some interesting points. And I don't know if I'm that comfortable with them. Thanks very much, Bill Tucker.
Well, from homeland security to the war on terror, Israel today arrested more than 150 suspected members of the Palestinian militant groups. The crackdown comes as Hamas and other groups have been in talks with Palestinian and Egyptian mediators to call a cease-fire with Israel.
Joining me for more on this is former defense secretary, he's also regular contributory this program, William Cohen.
And Bill, thanks for joining us tonight.
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Good evening, Kitty.
PILGRIM: This round-up seems like progress but does this complicate what the negotiations might be?
COHEN: Well, when you're looking at the middle east, either living there or studying it, you have to remain optimistic. Otherwise, you slip into something of a psychological depression, clinically depressed situation. But I think in this particular case, the Israelis feel that by cracking down on Hamas, they have strengthened the hand of Mahmoud Abbas. You could take a different view, however, and say that's not really empowering Abbas but rather weakening him. Much remains to be determined in the coming days and weeks.
But it seems to me the best way to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas' hand is to show progress on the so-called road map. That means a cessation of the settlements, a commitment on the part of the Palestinians to stop the violence and suicide bombings against the Israelis. But I think we're going to have to wait and see. The Israelis feel that by showing the fist of iron, they can smash Hamas and bring them to the burden table. I think others may see this as weakening Abbas himself. I think we'll have to wait and see, the juries out.
PILGRIM: Israel is demanding that Hamas disarm. What good is a cease-fire without disarming Hamas.
COHEN: Well, I think Hamas is not going to disarm until they see that there is going to be some genuine progress made. In other words, Abbas himself, may not be popular enough to overcome the influence of Hamas throughout the Palestinian community. They need to see Abbas making progress on the steps toward sovereignty, stability, certainly and opportunity for the Palestinians.
The Israelis need to have the security. But you've got to give the Palestinians a vision that they will one day have a Palestinian state living in peace and security, next to Israel, whose sovereignty must be guaranteed.
We'll have to wait and see. This is not a job for the faint- hearted to be sure. We're in this for a long, long haul. But I hope we'll see some positive reaction in the next days and weeks.
PILGRIM: Let's switch countries for a second, and the formation of a new Iraqi army. Two-hundred-fifty thousand soldiers paying these people. Is this about paying off disgruntled armies so they don't switch sides? Is this about building a new army? What's the subtext here?
COHEN: I think what we have to do is quickly as possible is to put an Iraqi face on the stability force that currently is the occupying force on the part of the United States and our allied forces. The sooner we can do that, the better.
Our American forces, British forces and others are going to be there for sometime to come. But it's very important that the Iraqi people see this as a stabilizing presence rather than an occupying one. To do that, they have to have several things. Number One, they've got to see jobs created, prosperity start to come to the area. In order to do that, I think we're going to have a much bigger and stronger police force or military force that bears the face of the Iraqi people.
PILGRIM: Forgive me for pressing on some of these details, but I understand that above a certain rank, they will not be accepted into this army and I think that rank is Colonel or higher will not be allowed into the army. How does that work and who is going to train them and why is rank such as arbiter?
COHEN: Well, Wilt Slokem (ph), who used to be one of my principal deputies is now in charge of helping to build that military capability. And I have enormous confidence in his talent. I think what the goal is, is to take those young officers who are in the military, have been in the military, to now separate them from the loyalists to the past regime, the Bathist regime and from Saddam's influence, and to build that force so it can in fact be a modern, stabilizing force for the Iraqi people and so that the United States and allied forces can, over time, reduce their presence.
So starting with the lower levels and building up that officer corps is going to be important. And I think Wilt Slokem (ph) certainly is the man to have over there right.
PILGRIM: One of the big questions, I know, is where this leaves the Kurds. After all, you have you 70,000 armed fighters. And are the Kurds going to be included?
COHEN: I suspect some effort will have to be made to include the Kurds. They've been living quite separate, independent lives during the past few years, thanks to the effort we have made with the northern no-fly zones so that Saddam was not able to move against them. But some consideration is going to have to be given as to how we deal with the Kurds in order to say we have an Iraqi force now that's truly representative of all the Iraqi people.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much for helping us sort this out, William Cohen. Thanks a lot.
COHEN: My pleasure.
PILGRIM: Well, that brings us to tonight's quote on the coalition casualties in Iraq. Here it is. "Our nation has been committed to rebuilding a country ravaged by war and tyranny and the cost of that task is being paid in blood and treasure every day." That is from Senator Robert Byrd.
Let's look at the U.S. trade deficit, which we do. And tonight it stands at more than $243 billion -- that's our estimate, by the way.
And when we return, an NBA player's accident draws attention to a dangerous and growing trend on the nation's roadways. Peter Vials has that report.
And then inside the media mega merger that was supposed to change everything. Well, the marriage of America Online and Time Warner, we're talking about. Alec Kline is the author "Stealing Time" and he joins us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Injured professional basketball player Jay Williams is likely to miss all of next season, and his career is in jeopardy. Williams was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident last week. Now his injury highlights a problem that has the attention of government safety experts, motorcycle accidents and fatalities, they have been rising sharply. Peter Vials has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From Hollywood to Sturgis, South Dakota, to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, more Americans are riding motorcycles and more Americans are getting hurt and dying on motorcycles. Chicago NBA guard Jay Williams of the Bulls suffers career-threatening injuries on his new motorcycle. One teammate says he warned Williams.
MARCUS FIZER, CHICAGO BULLS PLAYER: Well, I told him, you know what I'm saying, the importance of not riding a motorcycle. And all the dangers of them.
VILES: Government statistics show those dangers are real. Traffic deaths not involving motorcycles actually fell slightly from 1997 to 2002. But motorcycle deaths shot up by 55 percent and the boom in motorcycle sales only explains part of the increase.
RAY TYSON, NATIONAL HWY. SAFTEY ADMINISTRATION: There was a 30 percent increase in registrations between '97 and 2001. So part of the increase in fatalities is the result of more popularity. But there is something else going on there over and above increase in sales and that's what we need to try to find out.
VILES: Part of the answer lies in older riders, baby boomers. Deaths among riders 40 and over more than tripled from 1992 to 2002. Up 224 percent. Motorcycle salesman Steve Sergi says too many new riders simply don't know how to ride a motorcycle.
STEVE SERGI, MOTORCYCLE SALESMAN: People for some reason think that motorcycling is just like riding a bicycle and it's not. You got to know about coutersteering, you got to know about front wheel braking and you got to know about traffic theory. There is a host of things you have to learn before you ride safely out on the street.
VILES: If you buy one of its bikes BMW will pay your way through a safety course.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VILES: A helmet use has long been a controversial part of this story. Roughly half of those who die in motorcycle accidents are wearing helmets. Still, the federal government believes that stricter state laws on helmet use would reduce overall fatalities -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Pete, I'd be the last person to think it was like riding a bike. Thanks very much. Pete Viles.
Let's look at our nightly check on the national debt. Tonight it stands at over $6 trillion, $598 billion. That's up more than $400 million from last night. Don't forget to vote in our poll question. We are asking: how likely are you to consider buying cheaper drugs from other countries? The answers are, a lot, somewhat, a little or not at all. You can vote on our web site, CNN.com/lou and we will share the preliminary results later in this show.
Still ahead, "Stealing Time," a new book, looks inside the rocky corporate marriage of AOL Time Warner, and author Alec Klein will join us.
Then many of you wrote about censorship in schools. We'll share some of your e-mail on that. And more. Still ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: AOL Time Warner, CNN's parent company, was formed by the 2000 merger of America Online and Time Warner. It was billed as the ultimate marriage of the old economy and the new. A new book entitled "Stealing Time" examines what went wrong and who is responsible.
And Alec Klein, is a reporter for the "Washington Post" and author of "Stealing Time" and he joins us now.
And thanks for joining us Alec.
ALEC KLEIN, AUTHOR "STEALING TIME": Happy to be here.
PILGRIM: Some of us have been following this fairly carefully.
How did you get involved?
KLEIN: I've been covering AOL for two-plus years, then I got an anonymous phone call from somebody who said I ought to look at some of AOL's accounting problems. I did that. I spent a year on this. We found AOL had inflated its advertising revenue before the merger and after the merger. We wrote those stories. It led to the SEC investigation, the Justice Department look at it and that's where we are today.
PILGRIM: There is really two stories here, the accounting issues and then the merger and the whole question of can this marriage work out. And many people who were initially involved in this deal said, just give it time. And Jerry Levine is one of those people. We turn to you.
KLEIN: We're talking a lot about personalities. Ambition, greed. We're talking about Jerry Levine the CEO of Time Warner, Ted Turner who was his compatriot, and Steve Case on the AOL side. And they all kind of were jostling for power. Unfortunately, they didn't get along and sort of lost focus on how to drive this company forward.
PILGRIM: In terms of looking into the investigation on the SEC side, where do we stand now?
You've been following it very closely. KLEIN: As you know, the SEC investigation is by definition secret. But the company has disclosed the fact they're doing this. It's a very complicated matter. The numbers are mind-numbing. And so they've been looking at this for about a year. It could take another year or three years. AOL has already acknowledged it has improperly booked $190 million in revenue. So they are hoping for a fast resolution. But the last time AOL got in trouble with the SEC took about three years or so before the SEC came back with a penalty.
PILGRIM: It may be a process. You were talking about larger than life personalities, some of the corporate culture.
In looking through your book today, the corporate culture was really astonishing wasn't it?
KLEIN: Yes. I mean you're talk about AOL which was sort of this young, fast, aggressive company. Then you have the Time Warner side which skewed older, was a little more gentle in their practices. And the two sides just did not get along. There was a lot of true hatred between the two sides. And they're only now beginning to try to work together. It's just one of those things that a merger is not really about the numbers, it's about the people who are trying to make this company work.
PILGRIM: Alec, what was the biggest surprise when you started going through in and I mean, you've really gone through a lot of material?
KLEIN: I was really surprised by just the sheer level of sort of outrageous behavior that went on during the height of the Internet boom. We had people sort of snorting cocaine out in the open. You had people going on excursions on the company jet to a topless bar. There is just this sort of over the top behavior. And the AOL people sort of felt like they could do whatever they wanted to, they were writing the rules. And there is now sort after lot of repenters today, but at the time it was pretty shocking.
PILGRIM: Alec it's fascinating, I wish we had more time. Thanks very much for joining us today to talk about. Alec Klein, he is the author of "Stealing Time."
And when we return, we'll share some thoughts on the landmark ruling on affirmative action. We will also have the results of tonight's poll, so stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: The preliminary results of our poll question tonight. "We asked, how likely are you to consider buying cheaper drugs from other countries?" 65 percent of you said a lot, 12 percent said somewhat, 5 percent said a little and 19 percent said not at all. Now you can continue to vote on our website at cnn.com/lou. And We will have the final results tomorrow night.
Let's take a look at some of your thoughts and many of you wrote in about Diane Ravage's book, "The Language Police," on political correctness in schools. So Kelly Flynn of California wrote, "I'm all for being respectful of the sensibilities of others, but there is a point, and we passed it sometime ago, at which this renders our language so ambiguous that it strips away creativity. What a shame that would be."
And Joe Comella of Arizona wrote, "Recently I rented Walt Disney's classic 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. Snow White never refers to her friends as dwarfs, but calls them little men. She was politically correct before it was politically correct." We enjoyed that one.
On the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, Pedram of California wrote, Affirmative action should be done away with. Minorities can get ahead on their own merits. That is the only way we can have a color-blind society. Why should a white American student be denied admission to his favorite school when his scores are as good as a minority student? Isn't that racism?"
And Mark Scott, of Maryland writes, "If you're white, it's easy to say that race shouldn't be a factor when your race has been privileged to receive education. Deny or limit whites an education for about 150 years and see how they do. Then we can talk about if race should be a factor."
We absolutely love hearing from you. Send us an e-mail at loudobbs@cnn.com.
Thanks for joining us. Tomorrow in our series of special reports on border patrol we focus on the U.S./Mexican border. And Michael Garcia of the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement will join us. I'm Kitty Pilgrim in for Lou Dobbs. From all of us here, have a good night from New York.
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Package for Pakistan; Israel Arrests Dozens of Suspected Hamas Members>
Aired June 24, 2003 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Tuesday, June 24. Sitting in for Lou Dobbs, Kitty Pilgrim.
KITTY PILGRIM, GUEST HOST: Good evening, everyone. The deadliest day of combat for coalition troops in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Six British soldiers were killed, eight wounded, two separate incidents near the southern town of Amarah. Military officials say there have also been more attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now with more -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty, as you said the deadliest day of combat since the fall of Saddam Hussein April 9 involving the coalition forces.
Defense Secretary -- British Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon told the British parliament that these attacks against British soldiers occurred while the soldiers were training Iraqi police in the town of Majir al-Kabir (ph).
What's unusual about this is it's happening in the south where the Shiite population has been fairly welcoming of the U.S. and coalition forces, not in the north where there have been a series of hit and run style guerrilla attacks.
Today, at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld again said that he would not allow what he called dead-enders to derail the coalition's mission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: They're making progress against the dead-enders who are harassing coalition forces. Just as they were unable to stop the coalition advance in Baghdad, the death squads will not stop our commitment to create stability and security in post-war Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, according to one count, this latest ambush was among about 25 attacks on U.S. and British soldiers over the last 24 hours. Three Iraqis were also killed in a firefight with American soldiers west of Baghdad.
This was somewhat of a surprise, as I said, because the conditions in the south were considered to be more secure than in the north but the U.S. insists that their campaign to route out the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime and the people who still support them will succeed. It just will take some time -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Jamie, has the Pentagon released anymore information about the attack on the Iraqi convoy? That ended with five Syrians in U.S. custody.
MCINTYRE: They're not saying much about it except that apparently there are some moves behind the scenes to return those Syrian border guards back to Syria. But what we're hearing from Pentagon sources is that it appears this attack interrupted what was essentially a smuggling operation to get Iraqi fugitives from Iraq to Syria and sometimes back.
All of those targeted, according to intelligence, had close ties to the senior Saddam Hussein adviser who was captured last week, General Mahmud, and it's possible that they were people who had also facilitated General Mahmud's move to Syria, something that he told his interrogators he did back after the fall of Baghdad and along with two of Saddam Hussein's sons and then was forced to come back into the country.
So, it's still a very secretive mission. We're not getting much information about it. The Pentagon said, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said today he'd have more to say when "the dust settles" -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: All right, thanks very much, Jamie McIntyre reporting.
A short time ago, Senator John McCain of Arizona told Wolf Blitzer he's very concerned about the number of attacks on coalition troops in Iraq. Senator McCain is the number two Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The secretary of defense and the administration has to come over and tell Congress and the American people what our commitment is going to be there both in numbers of troops, amounts of money that needs to be spent, and their best estimate as to what we face.
Otherwise, I think there can be problems over time with support because if you keep losing American lives after "mission accomplished" it can present difficulties. But if the American people are spoken to, if I might say a little straight talk, I think they will not only understand but be prepared to bear the burden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Now, President Bush today proposed a $3 billion aid package for Pakistan, one of the United States' closest allies in the war on terror and Mr. Bush thanked Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan when they met at Camp David.
Senior White House correspondent John King joins me live -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Kitty, both that new aid package and the very fact that the meeting was held not here at the White House but up at Camp David a way for this president of the United States to say thank you to a man he says has been unquestionably one of the strongest allies of the United States in the war on terrorism.
Now, when President Bush and President Musharraf get together there is a strange sense of deja vu. It is their fourth meeting and at past meetings and this one as well the key question of course where is Osama bin Laden?
Neither President has the answer right now but President Bush says even though Osama bin Laden is still unaccounted for, that Pakistan is in his view among this country's strongest allies when it comes to the war on terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Since September the 11th attacks, Pakistan has apprehended more than 500 al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists, thanks to the effective border security measures and law enforcement cooperation throughout the country and thanks to the leadership of President Musharraf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, President Musharraf said some months after the war in Afghanistan began that he believed Osama bin Laden was dead. That is no longer the view of the Pakistani government and after some nudging from Washington, both Pakistani police and Pakistani army troops, along with some U.S. operatives as well are now pursuing bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders in remote areas of Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan, President Musharraf giving his word today that is country will do all it can to try to find bin Laden or anyone else associated with him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: Now, if at all any al Qaeda operative is hiding in this region, we are after them. Now whether Osama bin Laden or across the border your guess, sir, will be as good as mine, so I wouldn't like to venture into a guess. But the possibility of his maybe shifting sides on the border is very much there. But as I said we are fully inside the areas which are treacherous areas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: President Bush encouraged President Musharraf to do more to open a dialogue with India, especially over the disputed Kashmir region. The United States is also pressing President Musharraf who was General Musharraf when he took power in a 1999 coup to move more aggressively with Democratic reforms.
And it might seem a bit off topic when discussing the war on terrorism, but the two leaders also at length discussed education reform. U.S. officials say that could be the most lasting benefit of this cooperation with Pakistan if President Musharraf can deliver on his promises to root out anti-American teaching in Pakistan's schools and in its mosques -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: That would be significant, thanks very much John King.
Well, later tonight we will talk with former Defense Secretary William Cohen about the war on terror, security in Iraq, and other issues.
Israel today arrested dozens of people in a crackdown on the radical Islamist group Hamas. The arrests took place as Hamas leaders considered declaring a temporary cease-fire with Israel. Now, the Israeli crackdown was centered on Hebron in the West Bank.
Matthew Chance reports from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, the Israeli army has detained more than 150 Palestinians in what it says is a crackdown on the militant Palestinian group Hamas, most of those arrests taking place in the West Bank city of Hebron.
People were detained in house-to-house searches, blindfolded, their hands bound before they were taken off by Israeli soldiers for questioning. Israeli officials say Hamas activists in Hebron have been responsible for the killing of no less than 52 Israeli citizens in the past 12 months.
But, of course, their decision to crack down on Hamas there now is a very controversial one coming as it does as Hamas leaders apparently move close towards declaring a truce, a suspension in their campaign of violence against Israelis as a result of intensive negotiations with members of the Palestinian Authority.
Understandably, Palestinian officials have been sharply critical of the Israeli arrests, accusing Israel of sabotaging their attempts to get a truce with Hamas. For its part, Hamas leaders say that the detentions complicate any decision on a suspension of attacks, although at this stage according to the Palestinian sources we've been speaking to some kind of truce from Hamas and the other militant groups I still expected.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Well, let's turn to this country. Nebraska, it is reeling tonight from more wild weather. We have a huge tornado and it tore through the town of Coleridge (ph). One man was killed. Nearly a dozen farms were damaged. On Sunday night, four tornadoes swept through the state. They caused extensive damage and killed one person.
Now, Sunday's storms also produced, take a look at this, record size hail. This hailstone is six and a half inches wide and has a circumference of 17 inches. For you information it is not only the largest hailstone ever recorded in Nebraska, it is one of the largest ever reported anywhere in this country.
No tornadoes, lots of rain in Minnesota. Two nights of heavy thunderstorms produced floods in parts of the state. That cut power to tens of thousands of residents.
Well, in Arizona, the out of control wildfire has exploded. It now covers 21,000 acres. More than 200 homes and businesses have been destroyed. Hundreds more have been evacuated. Nevertheless, firefighters say they have made some progress.
Jennifer Reardon from CNN affiliate KVOA joins us now from Tucson, Arizona with the very latest -- Jennifer.
JENNIFER REARDON, KVOA CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kitty, we are at fire base camp which is just at the base of Mount Lemmon, which is where this fire started. Unfortunately today this is the sixth day of a red flag warning for very high winds and they have not let up.
Behind me is an infrared map that is taken every night overnight to kind of assess where the damage is and this is where firefighters tell us the greatest concern is, the southeast side of the fire. This is where they are trying to hold fire lines but basically at night they are fighting and the winds are just right up against their face.
This is a very narrow line at this point, we understand just a couple of feet wide. Their biggest concern with all this wind is that with one spark this fire could turn itself around and head right back into the areas where it's already burned and evacuated homes and obviously destroyed more than 300 homes at this point.
The other concern area is north of this fire where we have seen billows and billows of smoke and we can go ahead and show you some video that was shot from the town of Oracle and the town of San Manuel just about five miles from where this fire is burning now. We understand it is moving in that direction.
At this point no evacuations but there are buildings, of course, that are being structure protection, a lot of bulldozer lines that are being laid today and we understand that, of course, with our winds it is very difficult to fight this fire.
But just to give you an idea of what's happened so far, eight helicopters and two air tankers are working on this fire. So far, they have used 210,000 gallons of water and foam mixed together and 60,000 gallons of retardant.
There are 913 personnel working on this fire at this point and today they did about $4 million to fight still the nation's number one priority as far as an emergency here. And we have had a lot of concern from people with severe breathing issues in those areas because the smoke is so thick and our winds are so heavy and unfortunately, Kitty, there is not a raindrop in sight, so firefighters say this is going to be a long battle.
They're spending the days on the defensive and trying to spend the nights on the offensive but the winds are not letting up even during the nighttime hours, so a lot of concern from residents as this fire creeps closer to not only the biosphere two, which is several miles out still but obviously a major landmark, but towns that occupy about 10,000 people together that are very concerned at this point.
PILGRIM: Jennifer, these pictures look horrific. What are the plans to evacuate the residents from the populated areas that are threatened tonight?
REARDON: They're still telling us that they feel confident those evacuations will not have to happen, although I have to tell you it's not easing anyone's mind as that smoke, as you said, just flares quicker and quicker toward them.
And what they say is that they are basically at this point assessing that area and finding a trigger point. What they need to find is that one point that if the fire should cross that line that will be the turning point to say, hey, we need you guys to get out.
They do say that that won't happen for a while. They're not anticipating it to happen and they will be able to give them at least one to two hours to evacuate their homes, but they're hopeful that with the damage that we have had in this area over the last summer. This area burned.
It was known as the Oracle Hill fire. Once the fire meets that area it will actually burn itself out and not burn as quickly and it's not as rugged terrain, so we're hopeful that that will happen and it's moving very quickly at this point -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: All right, thanks very much Jennifer. Stay safe. That's Jennifer Reardon from CNN affiliate KVOA. Thanks very much, Jennifer.
SARS, it's no longer a threat in China, that's according to the World Health Organization. Officials have lifted their ban on travel to Beijing and they also took the city off the list of areas where the disease is still spreading.
Meanwhile, a Chinese man is now being treated for SARS in a Greek hospital. Health officials are bracing for their worst case of West Nile Virus, speaking of contagions. Officials say record rains this spring will produce more and larger mosquitoes. So far not a single case of West Nile Virus has been reported this year.
Still ahead, hope for hundreds of thousands of Americans suffering from cancer. Dramatic results from a drug already on the market. We'll have the story. Also tonight, airline passengers and their luggage are more closely screened than ever. Cargo, however, is a different story and potentially a dangerous on. Bill Tucker will have that report so stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Stocks moved modestly today following yesterday's big sell off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose almost 37 points, the NASDAQ fell five, the S&P 500 added almost two, and Susan Lisovicz is here with a full report on the market -- Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kitty. Well, the Dow and NASDAQ moved in opposite directions but caution ruled the markets overall. Advancers narrowly beat decliners at the NYSE helped by supermarket giant Kroger which reported higher profits despite lower shelf prices.
Rite-Aid gained even after reporting a wider quarterly loss due in part to its accounting scandal but said with improved cash flow and new financing it could begin operating new stores over the next few years.
Investors cheered Park Place Entertainment's higher second quarter estimates, and Merrill Lynch rallied on a buy recommendation from Prudential.
But techs came under pressure today after chip maker Advanced Micro Devices cut its sales forecast by 14 percent because of slumping demand in Asia. AMD fell four and a quarter percent.
Caterpillar edged down after S&P lowered its credit rating due to unfunded retirement benefits. Walt Disney lost ground after a brokerage cut earnings estimates because of a delayed recovery for its theme parks and low ratings for the NBA finals.
And FedEx shed nearly two and a half percent despite reporting a 19 percent jump in quarterly profits. Investors focused instead on weakness in June volume.
Kitty, a better than expected reading on consumer confidence helped the market stabilize after yesterday's huge sell off but investors remain nervous ahead of tomorrow's key decision by the Federal Reserve on interest rates.
PILGRIM: How are we seeing this nervousness demonstrated, Susan? Are they really more jittery than ever or is this just kind of a normal?
LISOVICZ: You know, there is always that nervousness as you well know before a Federal Reserve decision but it comes at such a sensitive time because the markets took off in mid-March largely on the belief that the economy would improve considerably in the second half of the year and we're just days away from the second half of the year.
PILGRIM: That is painfully obvious. Thanks very much, Susan Lisovicz.
LISOVICZ: Sure.
PILGRIM: OK, later tonight, Alec Klein the "Washington Post" reporter who exposed the troubles inside AOL Time Warner will join us. He's the author of "Stealing TIME." He'll join us later in the program.
Let's check our corporate American criminal scoreboard. Seventy- three executives in all of corporate America have been charged with crimes, 16 from Enron. Sam Waksal is the only executive to be sent to jail and it has been 568 days since Enron filed for bankruptcy. We know you're keeping track.
Well, Sam Waksal and Martha Stewart are among the newest deck of cards circulating on Wall Street. Now, you may recall the military issued its 55 most wanted cards following the war in Iraq. Well, the same premise holds for this deck which, of course, is just a spoof we want to emphasize.
Among the notable personalities, ex-Enron CEO Ken Lay. He is the ace of spades. Former Smith Barney analyst Jack Grubman is one of the jokers and also included Tyco's ex-chairman and CEO Dennis Kozlowski, WorldCom's former CFO Scott Sullivan, and ex-investment banker Frank Quattrone, interesting deck, worth looking at.
Coming up, a government crack down on phony prescription drugs coming into this country. Louis Schiavone reports from Washington.
And then, dangerous cargo in the air, why freight on commercial jets is slipping through the cracks in the security system, Bill Tucker will have that story.
And, our series of special reports on border patrol, that continues. We have a look in to the world of Chinese smuggling immigrants, drugs, much more coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: A broken chunk of insulating foam is the most probable cause of the space shuttle Columbia disaster. That word today from investigators looking into the tragedy. Now that foam broke away during the shuttle's launch. It hit its left wing. It was damaged to the wing to it eventually led to the spacecraft's disintegration. The panel is now writing its final report that's expected to be finished late next month.
NASA today also released this video of the shuttle's astronauts. This tape is one of 28 recovered from the shuttle debris. They were shot by Columbia's crew during the mission. NASA cleared the release of this video with the astronauts's families.
Innocent pleas today in last month's immigrant smuggling case. Truck driver Tyrone Williams and two others were arraigned for their roles in the smuggling operation which killed 19 people. 100 illegal immigrants were crammed into the back of a sweltering truck. The defense plans to blame the deaths on immigration policies of the United States and Mexico.
Twenty Cuban immigrants today are in custody in South Florida tonight. Under U.S. law, Cubans who make it to land here usually are allowed to stay in the United States.
Now our special series on the safety and security of America's borders. Tonight we examine illegal Chinese immigrants. They are one of the largest groups of illegal immigrants in this country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: It was a dramatic example of illegal immigration played out before the television cameras. The golden venture, a rust bucket freighter, ran aground off of Rockaway beach in 1993. The 286 illegal Chinese immigrants had to swim for it, 10 died. These days the experts say don't look for illegal immigrants on ships. The majority are pouring through the world's airports, sometimes on legitimate visas and don't plan on going home. Experts say the new immigrants pay racketeers thousands to get into the country and the smugglers, known as snake heads, make enormous sums to finesse the process. Peter Kwong, author of "The Forbidden Workers," an expert on the history of Chinese immigration, explains how the snake heads operate.
PETER KWONG, AUTHOR "FORBIDDEN WORKERS": They are making $60- 50,000 per person. And they have incentive to make that money. And their information network is emphatic. They would nobody somebody who is bribed in let's say some airport somewhere and next thing you know, 10-15 illegals fly through that airport. Once the situation changed, they'll find out somewhere else. It is a very, very efficient, very well-informed system.
PILGRIM: According to the state department, Chinese have the second largest immigrant group coming to this country. Twenty-nine thousand immigrated legally in the year 2000, estimates on illegals run in the tens of thousands. In China, America still looks like the land of opportunity, as it did after the civil war when Chinese immigrants built the country's railroads as contract laborers under appalling conditions. Some say the system still exploits the immigrants.
CHARLIE CHIN, CHINESE HISTORIAN: The United States stands as a symbol of the land of opportunity for people around the entire world. Ethnic Chinese from many other countries, including the People's Republic of China, are just one group of people who look to the United States for that particular dream.
PILGRIM: Many immigrants work long hours in sweat shops to pay off the price of their passage. That can take years. They say unless U.S. employers stop demand for cheap illegal workers, they'll keep coming. For China, there is no incentive to stop the flow.
KWONG: In so far as china's eyes are concerned, there really is no down side. You get them out. They will be less of an employment problem for you. And then they'll send money back to their relatives. And if they successfully come back to China to invest in some factories. (END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Alien smuggling along the Mexican border was the focus of a hearing on Capitol Hill today. Border security officials testified about those 19 deaths last month in Texas. One lawmaker said officials need to take a new look at immigration to prevent similar tragedies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to take a serious look at what our current border policy has wrought and acknowledge there may be a better way to address the situation. We need to put the smugglers out of business by formulating a more realistic approach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Tomorrow we'll take a closer look at alien smuggling over the Mexican border. The number of arrested tied to smuggling has surged in the last year but the problem is still growing.
Casey Wian will report.
The General Accounting Office today released a report warning about security at the nation's nuclear weapons facilities. The GAO says security needs to be improved in several key areas including overseeing the activities of contractors. Senator Charles Grassley recently sent a letter to the Energy Department saying security of nuclear labs needs to be strengthened. The Iowa Republican cited an incident in which a van was stole from a New Mexico lab. He says investigators ignored the fact a computer containing classified information disappeared at the same time the van was stolen.
Well, let's turn now to tonight's thoughts on what should never be sacrificed for security. And here it is. "They who would give up essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty or security." And that is from Benjamin Franklin.
Congressman Ed Marquis is pushing for tighter security with the nation's air cargo. If he gets his way, every single piece of cargo on passenger planes would be screened and inspected.
Bill Tucker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Passengers are screened, sometimes even stripped. Luggage is subject to x-ray and possible search. Cargo is a different matter. It's not always checked, or inspected. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Dianne Feinstein, have co-sponsored a bill passed by the Senate to improve air cargo security. Representative Schiff, has introduced similar legislation in the House.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: As it stands now, I think only 2 percent of this cargo is screened for explosives. And that is wholly inadequate. So what TSA is doing now is not covering the most glaring hole in our security and we have to step in, I think as the Congress and mandate that they do that.
TUCKER: Roughly half of the load in the belly of a plane is not somebody's baggage, it's air cargo. The airlines do have security procedures for dealing with that cargo and for security reasons, they won't discuss them. But the procedures are on file with the Transportation Security Administration. The air cargo industry supports current legislation because it allows them latitude in tightening security measures. The industry is opposed to what Congressman Ed Markey wants to do which is screen every piece of cargo. Markey is incredulous.
REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Now in the United States we have this two-tiered system where baby shoes are taken off little tiny infants and screened but cargo is put on the same plane that has never seen a machine, never had an individual try to find out what was inside of that huge box. It makes no sense.
TUCKER: The Transportation Security Administration responds by saying they haven't been sitting on their hands. The only cargo allowed on passenger planes is cargo from members of their known shipper program, all of whom have undergone security checks themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: In addition, the TSA is actively spending money to pioneer the development of electronic screening technology for cargo, technology which doesn't currently exist.
PILGRIM: Bill, you raise some interesting points. And I don't know if I'm that comfortable with them. Thanks very much, Bill Tucker.
Well, from homeland security to the war on terror, Israel today arrested more than 150 suspected members of the Palestinian militant groups. The crackdown comes as Hamas and other groups have been in talks with Palestinian and Egyptian mediators to call a cease-fire with Israel.
Joining me for more on this is former defense secretary, he's also regular contributory this program, William Cohen.
And Bill, thanks for joining us tonight.
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Good evening, Kitty.
PILGRIM: This round-up seems like progress but does this complicate what the negotiations might be?
COHEN: Well, when you're looking at the middle east, either living there or studying it, you have to remain optimistic. Otherwise, you slip into something of a psychological depression, clinically depressed situation. But I think in this particular case, the Israelis feel that by cracking down on Hamas, they have strengthened the hand of Mahmoud Abbas. You could take a different view, however, and say that's not really empowering Abbas but rather weakening him. Much remains to be determined in the coming days and weeks.
But it seems to me the best way to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas' hand is to show progress on the so-called road map. That means a cessation of the settlements, a commitment on the part of the Palestinians to stop the violence and suicide bombings against the Israelis. But I think we're going to have to wait and see. The Israelis feel that by showing the fist of iron, they can smash Hamas and bring them to the burden table. I think others may see this as weakening Abbas himself. I think we'll have to wait and see, the juries out.
PILGRIM: Israel is demanding that Hamas disarm. What good is a cease-fire without disarming Hamas.
COHEN: Well, I think Hamas is not going to disarm until they see that there is going to be some genuine progress made. In other words, Abbas himself, may not be popular enough to overcome the influence of Hamas throughout the Palestinian community. They need to see Abbas making progress on the steps toward sovereignty, stability, certainly and opportunity for the Palestinians.
The Israelis need to have the security. But you've got to give the Palestinians a vision that they will one day have a Palestinian state living in peace and security, next to Israel, whose sovereignty must be guaranteed.
We'll have to wait and see. This is not a job for the faint- hearted to be sure. We're in this for a long, long haul. But I hope we'll see some positive reaction in the next days and weeks.
PILGRIM: Let's switch countries for a second, and the formation of a new Iraqi army. Two-hundred-fifty thousand soldiers paying these people. Is this about paying off disgruntled armies so they don't switch sides? Is this about building a new army? What's the subtext here?
COHEN: I think what we have to do is quickly as possible is to put an Iraqi face on the stability force that currently is the occupying force on the part of the United States and our allied forces. The sooner we can do that, the better.
Our American forces, British forces and others are going to be there for sometime to come. But it's very important that the Iraqi people see this as a stabilizing presence rather than an occupying one. To do that, they have to have several things. Number One, they've got to see jobs created, prosperity start to come to the area. In order to do that, I think we're going to have a much bigger and stronger police force or military force that bears the face of the Iraqi people.
PILGRIM: Forgive me for pressing on some of these details, but I understand that above a certain rank, they will not be accepted into this army and I think that rank is Colonel or higher will not be allowed into the army. How does that work and who is going to train them and why is rank such as arbiter?
COHEN: Well, Wilt Slokem (ph), who used to be one of my principal deputies is now in charge of helping to build that military capability. And I have enormous confidence in his talent. I think what the goal is, is to take those young officers who are in the military, have been in the military, to now separate them from the loyalists to the past regime, the Bathist regime and from Saddam's influence, and to build that force so it can in fact be a modern, stabilizing force for the Iraqi people and so that the United States and allied forces can, over time, reduce their presence.
So starting with the lower levels and building up that officer corps is going to be important. And I think Wilt Slokem (ph) certainly is the man to have over there right.
PILGRIM: One of the big questions, I know, is where this leaves the Kurds. After all, you have you 70,000 armed fighters. And are the Kurds going to be included?
COHEN: I suspect some effort will have to be made to include the Kurds. They've been living quite separate, independent lives during the past few years, thanks to the effort we have made with the northern no-fly zones so that Saddam was not able to move against them. But some consideration is going to have to be given as to how we deal with the Kurds in order to say we have an Iraqi force now that's truly representative of all the Iraqi people.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much for helping us sort this out, William Cohen. Thanks a lot.
COHEN: My pleasure.
PILGRIM: Well, that brings us to tonight's quote on the coalition casualties in Iraq. Here it is. "Our nation has been committed to rebuilding a country ravaged by war and tyranny and the cost of that task is being paid in blood and treasure every day." That is from Senator Robert Byrd.
Let's look at the U.S. trade deficit, which we do. And tonight it stands at more than $243 billion -- that's our estimate, by the way.
And when we return, an NBA player's accident draws attention to a dangerous and growing trend on the nation's roadways. Peter Vials has that report.
And then inside the media mega merger that was supposed to change everything. Well, the marriage of America Online and Time Warner, we're talking about. Alec Kline is the author "Stealing Time" and he joins us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Injured professional basketball player Jay Williams is likely to miss all of next season, and his career is in jeopardy. Williams was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident last week. Now his injury highlights a problem that has the attention of government safety experts, motorcycle accidents and fatalities, they have been rising sharply. Peter Vials has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From Hollywood to Sturgis, South Dakota, to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, more Americans are riding motorcycles and more Americans are getting hurt and dying on motorcycles. Chicago NBA guard Jay Williams of the Bulls suffers career-threatening injuries on his new motorcycle. One teammate says he warned Williams.
MARCUS FIZER, CHICAGO BULLS PLAYER: Well, I told him, you know what I'm saying, the importance of not riding a motorcycle. And all the dangers of them.
VILES: Government statistics show those dangers are real. Traffic deaths not involving motorcycles actually fell slightly from 1997 to 2002. But motorcycle deaths shot up by 55 percent and the boom in motorcycle sales only explains part of the increase.
RAY TYSON, NATIONAL HWY. SAFTEY ADMINISTRATION: There was a 30 percent increase in registrations between '97 and 2001. So part of the increase in fatalities is the result of more popularity. But there is something else going on there over and above increase in sales and that's what we need to try to find out.
VILES: Part of the answer lies in older riders, baby boomers. Deaths among riders 40 and over more than tripled from 1992 to 2002. Up 224 percent. Motorcycle salesman Steve Sergi says too many new riders simply don't know how to ride a motorcycle.
STEVE SERGI, MOTORCYCLE SALESMAN: People for some reason think that motorcycling is just like riding a bicycle and it's not. You got to know about coutersteering, you got to know about front wheel braking and you got to know about traffic theory. There is a host of things you have to learn before you ride safely out on the street.
VILES: If you buy one of its bikes BMW will pay your way through a safety course.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VILES: A helmet use has long been a controversial part of this story. Roughly half of those who die in motorcycle accidents are wearing helmets. Still, the federal government believes that stricter state laws on helmet use would reduce overall fatalities -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Pete, I'd be the last person to think it was like riding a bike. Thanks very much. Pete Viles.
Let's look at our nightly check on the national debt. Tonight it stands at over $6 trillion, $598 billion. That's up more than $400 million from last night. Don't forget to vote in our poll question. We are asking: how likely are you to consider buying cheaper drugs from other countries? The answers are, a lot, somewhat, a little or not at all. You can vote on our web site, CNN.com/lou and we will share the preliminary results later in this show.
Still ahead, "Stealing Time," a new book, looks inside the rocky corporate marriage of AOL Time Warner, and author Alec Klein will join us.
Then many of you wrote about censorship in schools. We'll share some of your e-mail on that. And more. Still ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: AOL Time Warner, CNN's parent company, was formed by the 2000 merger of America Online and Time Warner. It was billed as the ultimate marriage of the old economy and the new. A new book entitled "Stealing Time" examines what went wrong and who is responsible.
And Alec Klein, is a reporter for the "Washington Post" and author of "Stealing Time" and he joins us now.
And thanks for joining us Alec.
ALEC KLEIN, AUTHOR "STEALING TIME": Happy to be here.
PILGRIM: Some of us have been following this fairly carefully.
How did you get involved?
KLEIN: I've been covering AOL for two-plus years, then I got an anonymous phone call from somebody who said I ought to look at some of AOL's accounting problems. I did that. I spent a year on this. We found AOL had inflated its advertising revenue before the merger and after the merger. We wrote those stories. It led to the SEC investigation, the Justice Department look at it and that's where we are today.
PILGRIM: There is really two stories here, the accounting issues and then the merger and the whole question of can this marriage work out. And many people who were initially involved in this deal said, just give it time. And Jerry Levine is one of those people. We turn to you.
KLEIN: We're talking a lot about personalities. Ambition, greed. We're talking about Jerry Levine the CEO of Time Warner, Ted Turner who was his compatriot, and Steve Case on the AOL side. And they all kind of were jostling for power. Unfortunately, they didn't get along and sort of lost focus on how to drive this company forward.
PILGRIM: In terms of looking into the investigation on the SEC side, where do we stand now?
You've been following it very closely. KLEIN: As you know, the SEC investigation is by definition secret. But the company has disclosed the fact they're doing this. It's a very complicated matter. The numbers are mind-numbing. And so they've been looking at this for about a year. It could take another year or three years. AOL has already acknowledged it has improperly booked $190 million in revenue. So they are hoping for a fast resolution. But the last time AOL got in trouble with the SEC took about three years or so before the SEC came back with a penalty.
PILGRIM: It may be a process. You were talking about larger than life personalities, some of the corporate culture.
In looking through your book today, the corporate culture was really astonishing wasn't it?
KLEIN: Yes. I mean you're talk about AOL which was sort of this young, fast, aggressive company. Then you have the Time Warner side which skewed older, was a little more gentle in their practices. And the two sides just did not get along. There was a lot of true hatred between the two sides. And they're only now beginning to try to work together. It's just one of those things that a merger is not really about the numbers, it's about the people who are trying to make this company work.
PILGRIM: Alec, what was the biggest surprise when you started going through in and I mean, you've really gone through a lot of material?
KLEIN: I was really surprised by just the sheer level of sort of outrageous behavior that went on during the height of the Internet boom. We had people sort of snorting cocaine out in the open. You had people going on excursions on the company jet to a topless bar. There is just this sort of over the top behavior. And the AOL people sort of felt like they could do whatever they wanted to, they were writing the rules. And there is now sort after lot of repenters today, but at the time it was pretty shocking.
PILGRIM: Alec it's fascinating, I wish we had more time. Thanks very much for joining us today to talk about. Alec Klein, he is the author of "Stealing Time."
And when we return, we'll share some thoughts on the landmark ruling on affirmative action. We will also have the results of tonight's poll, so stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: The preliminary results of our poll question tonight. "We asked, how likely are you to consider buying cheaper drugs from other countries?" 65 percent of you said a lot, 12 percent said somewhat, 5 percent said a little and 19 percent said not at all. Now you can continue to vote on our website at cnn.com/lou. And We will have the final results tomorrow night.
Let's take a look at some of your thoughts and many of you wrote in about Diane Ravage's book, "The Language Police," on political correctness in schools. So Kelly Flynn of California wrote, "I'm all for being respectful of the sensibilities of others, but there is a point, and we passed it sometime ago, at which this renders our language so ambiguous that it strips away creativity. What a shame that would be."
And Joe Comella of Arizona wrote, "Recently I rented Walt Disney's classic 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. Snow White never refers to her friends as dwarfs, but calls them little men. She was politically correct before it was politically correct." We enjoyed that one.
On the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, Pedram of California wrote, Affirmative action should be done away with. Minorities can get ahead on their own merits. That is the only way we can have a color-blind society. Why should a white American student be denied admission to his favorite school when his scores are as good as a minority student? Isn't that racism?"
And Mark Scott, of Maryland writes, "If you're white, it's easy to say that race shouldn't be a factor when your race has been privileged to receive education. Deny or limit whites an education for about 150 years and see how they do. Then we can talk about if race should be a factor."
We absolutely love hearing from you. Send us an e-mail at loudobbs@cnn.com.
Thanks for joining us. Tomorrow in our series of special reports on border patrol we focus on the U.S./Mexican border. And Michael Garcia of the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement will join us. I'm Kitty Pilgrim in for Lou Dobbs. From all of us here, have a good night from New York.
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Package for Pakistan; Israel Arrests Dozens of Suspected Hamas Members>
