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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Bush Defies Protests in Rome; Kerry Says Military Is Stretched Too Thin
Aired June 04, 2004 - 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.
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush defies protests in Rome and faces criticism from the pope as he visits Italy, one of America's staunchest allies.
Five American soldiers are killed in Baghdad, but, tonight, a new deal to end the fighting in southern Iraq. We'll have a report.
Senator Kerry says our military is stretched too thin. Kerry adviser General John Shalikashvili is my guest.
The economy created a quarter of a million new jobs in May, nearly a million new jobs in three months.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today's job report shows that the American economy is strong and it's getting stronger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: But hundreds of thousands of American jobs could be lost in the shrimp industry because of cheap imports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
You will be lucky to see a shrimp industry here within another year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Tonight, we'll have a special report from Florida.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Friday, June 4. Here now for an hour of news, debate and opinion, sitting in for Lou Dobbs who is on vacation, Kitty Pilgrim.
PILGRIM: Good evening.
President Bush today faced criticism from the pope and massive protests during a visit to Rome. The pope, a strong critic of the war against Saddam Hussein, declared he is troubled by what he called "deplorable events" in Iraq. Thousands of protesters tried and failed to disrupt the president's visit.
Senior White House Correspondent John King is traveling with the president and joins us from Rome -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty, good evening from Rome. The president's goal on this trip is to look forward to the political transition in Iraq, not back at the pre-war bitterness, but, as you noted, it came up today during a remarkable day in Rome.
Tonight, the president was in friendly company, having dinner with Prime Minister Silvio Berlisconi, a man who steadfastly supported President Bush and has sent 2,700 Italian security forces to Iraq to help Mr. Bush, despite public opposition here in his country.
Friendly company tonight, but, on the streets of Rome today, evidence of just how unpopular the war is here in Rome and across Europe, evidence of what a risk Prime Minister Berlisconi took in backing President Bush by the tens of thousands demonstrators in the street.
Some 10,000 police were deployed as well. The prime minister had worried these protests would turn violent. Instead, large demonstrations, but overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations criticizing the president of the United States and, more pointedly, criticizing his decision to wage war in Iraq.
Mr. Bush also came in for some personal criticism earlier in the day. He had requested and came to Italy one day early to make it work on the schedule to have an audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. Mr. Bush had a private meeting with the pontiff that ran about 25, 30 minutes.
Then, both men delivered public statements. In his, the pope said that the Vatican's opposition to the war in Iraq stood and was unequivocal. He talked about grave mistakes being made in Iraq now and also talked about deplorable acts, which the Vatican said was a clear reference to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. military personnel. Now the pontiff did call for a speedy transition to sovereignty in Iraq, and the White House took that as an endorsement of the current political plan under way in Iraq.
From Rome, Mr. Bush moves on to France tomorrow to meet with a chief war opponent, President Jacques Chirac of France. Mr. Bush hoping to mend fences, not revive the bitterness, and focus instead on that new United Nations Security Council resolution endorsing the political transition, more evidence of the president's focus on that transition.
Tonight, the White House announced, Kitty, that the new interim president of Iraq, Ghazi al-Yawar, will join other Group of 8 leaders and other Middle Eastern leaders next week in the United States for the annual G8 summit, this year being held in Sea Island, Georgia -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: John, the president today announced his choice for the next ambassador to the United Nations. What can you tell us about that? KING: The president choosing a man he believes will be overwhelmingly supported in the United States Senate and welcomed fondly at the United Nations, especially in the Security Council.
The president announcing tonight that Jack Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri, a veteran of the United States Senate, is his choice to replace John Negroponte as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Negroponte, of course, about to begin a very difficult mission as the new ambassador to Iraq.
In Jack Danforth, the president has someone who he personally tasked to be his special envoy to Sudan. Mr. Danforth has met many world ambassadors in that role and someone who is highly popular, many friendships with Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.
Because it is an election year, Kitty, the president does not want any major picks to face confirmation fights. They believe Senator Danforth will be quickly confirmed and overwhelmingly supported by his former colleagues in the United States Senate -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much.
John King in Rome.
Thanks, John.
In Iraq today, a deadly attack on American troops in Baghdad. Insurgents killed five soldiers traveling in a humvee in a Shiite district of eastern Baghdad. Five other soldiers are wounded. The troops are all members of the 1st Cavalry Division. Eight hundred and twenty-five troops have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war.
In southern Iraq, there was a new effort today to end weeks of fighting between American troops and Shiite gunmen. Both sides agreed to withdraw from the cities of Najaf and Kufa and turn over security to Iraqi police.
Guy Raz reports from Najaf.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what Kufa looked like a little more than 24 hours ago, U.S. forces battling a rebel militia. But if the latest plan to end the fighting succeeds, these Iraqi police will be patrolling the twin cities of Najaf and Kufa.
Najaf's governor believes he's brokered an end to six weeks of fighting. "I hereby order all fighting forces, both the coalition forces and the Mehdi Militia, to leave the holy cities," Zurufi said. In their place, Iraqi police will begin to deploy to restore order.
For weeks now, the streets of Najaf and neighboring Kufa have often been deserted. Previous attempts to negotiate an end to the fighting, including an intervention from former Iraqi Governing Council Member Ahmed Chalabi, have failed.
But this time, senior military officials are optimistic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the security forces are able to take charge of the security situation, then I would say that there really is no need for us to move into those areas and conduct reconnaissance efforts that we've been conducting so far.
RAZ: At Friday prayers in the two cities holy to Shiite Muslims, hope as well for an end to the daily barrage of artillery and gunfire.
Guy Raz, CNN, Najaf in southern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: In Washington today, new calls for major reforms at the Central Intelligence Agency after the surprise resignation of Director George Tenet. Tenet will leave the CIA July 11, and his deputy will become acting director.
National Security Correspondent David Ensor reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the intelligence community, for now, change comes in the form of John McLaughlin, George Tenet's deputy who will move up as acting director in July. A professorial, brainy CIA veteran who does magic tricks as a hobby, McLaughlin is regarded by professionals as a safe pair of hands who will mostly follow the Tenet line.
JOHN GANNON, FORMER CIA OFFICIAL: I think he's a phenomenal talent, and I think we can be confident that in the interim period the CIA and the intelligence community is in very good hands.
ENSOR: But, over the summer, the reports and recommendations will start to stream in from the 9/11 Commission and intelligence committees ion the Hill, proposals to change the CIA and U.S. intelligence to make it less likely to miss the next 9/11 attack and make it more likely to get estimates of weapons of mass destruction in a place like Iraq -- get them right next time.
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R-NE), SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE: We are going to have to completely restructure our community of intelligence networks, our focus, bring it into the 21st Century so that, in fact, it's relevant to the threats of the 21st Century. We are dealing with a 20th Century institution, and that's part of the problem that we've had over the last few years with our intelligence community.
ENSOR: The most prominent proposal thus far is to give whoever is the next intelligence chief more power over the 15 other intelligence agencies besides the CIA, the agencies that eavesdrop, crack codes and watch from outer space what rivals and potential enemies are up to.
Old hands worry about changes decided in haste in an election year.
GANNON: The danger of moving too fast is that you actually can do damage to what is working well within the community. So, again, I think...
ENSOR (on camera): But you still think that change is needed?
GANNON: I think change is needed. I think it has been needed and it has been taking place. I think the -- my own view and my own sense of accountability for when I was in the leadership in the intelligence community is that we were transforming, we just weren't transforming fast enough.
ENSOR: But with reports emerging in coming weeks expected to be scathing about intelligence mistakes in the runup to the Iraq war, change is in the air. The question is how much. The time is likely to be 2005.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: One of the most critical reports about the CIA is likely to come from the Senate Intelligence Committee. Now lawmakers are also waiting for the findings and recommendations of the commission investigating the September 11 attacks.
Congressional Correspondent Joe Johns reports -- Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Kitty.
CNN has been told this will be a harsh report, an indictment of the Central Intelligence Agency, as a matter of fact, the entire intelligence community. The chairman of the Intelligence Committee here on Capitol Hill, Pat Roberts of Kansas has been sharply critical. He even suggested before Tenet resigned that someone ought to be disciplined or fired. Roberts does have some ideas of his own on how to reform the agency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R-KA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I do expect, however, and demand that the Intelligence Committee be candid with the president and Congress about what it does know and what it doesn't know. A golden rule should be drilled into all analysts and managers: Tell me what you know, tell me what you don't know, tell me what you think, and make sure that I understand the difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Now CNN has been told that the findings are expected to say, among other things -- we do have a graphic -- that the claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction were based on unfounded assumptions, that information from a single source, for example, was characterized as from multiple sources, there was insufficient human intelligence on the ground, and that assertion of mobile biological weapons labs may have, in fact, been fabricated.
So those are some of the findings we expect in that report. The question, of course: When will that report come out? We're told right now the report is with the CIA where they're working on trying to declassify it. Once that is done, some are hoping it could be out later this month.
Kitty, back to you.
PILGRIM: All right. Thanks very much.
Joe Johns reporting from Washington.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is visiting Asia where one of the main topics of discussion is restructuring the military. Radical changes are also expected in the deployment of American troops in Europe. Now the restructuring is the most extensive realignment of U.S. forces since the end of the Cold War.
Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, Kitty, for decades, the U.S. has maintained a formidable military force in Germany, part of the old Cold War strategy designed to repulse a Soviet attack on western Europe. But, with the new threat of global terrorism, the U.S. is about to bring many of those American troops home.
Under the plan, sources say big bases in Germany, such as Ramstein Air Base and the U.S. European Command Headquarters in Stuttgart will remain. But as many as two divisions of Army troops will be brought back to the United States. When needed, those troops will be deployed to temporary expeditionary bases that have been offered by some of America's new allies in Europe, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania.
And while some German politicians have accused the U.S. of punishing Germany for its failure to support the U.S. decision to topple Saddam Hussein.
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, who is traveling in Asia where they're also making some military base realignments, insists this is something that's been in the works for quite a while and just makes sense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We have been for a long time in effect where we were when the Cold War end ended, and it's time to adjust those locations from static defense to a more agile and a more capable and a more 21st-Century posture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: U.S.-European commanders point out that even when they need troops in Europe, such as for the peacekeeping mission in the Balkans, those troops usually come from the United States. So basing them in Germany doesn't necessarily give them an advantage. In fact, it's sometimes an advantage to have them in other countries where the U.S. has an easier time deploying them.
Now Germany has a love-hate relationship with the United States over those troops. Obviously, the U.S. occupies a large amount of German real estate. But, at the same time, anytime you close a base or downsize a U.S. military presence, just as it has in the United States, it can have a devastating impact on the local economy.
These changes have not been finalized, but we are expecting the changes to be announced fairly soon -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: All right. Thanks very much.
Jamie McIntyre.
We'll have more on the future of the military next. I'll talk about Senator Kerry's plan for the armed forces with his military adviser, former Joint Chiefs Chairman General John Shalikashvili.
The economy created a quarter of a million new jobs last month. It's the strongest three months of the labor market in four years.
And "Outta Gas," the search for alternative energy sources. Even Turkey waste is being turned into oil. We'll have a special report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Senator John Kerry says the Bush administration has stretched the military too thin. The Democratic presidential candidate would increase the active duty military by 40,000 troops and double the size of the Special Forces. Senator Kerry would pay for the increase by cutting back what he says is a "unproven missile defense system."
I recently spoke with one of Senator Kerry's top military advisers, former Joint Chiefs Chairman General John Shalikashvili, and I began by asking the general whether it would be difficult to recruit 40,000 more troops.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEN. JOHN SHALIKASHVILI (RET.), FORMER JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: We have no indication at this time that would lead us to believe that you could not recruit another 40,000 for the active Army.
As a matter of fact, my sense is that not only must you increase the active Army combat units, but, at the same time, you have to increase significantly the Special Forces that have been so key in places like Afghanistan and in Iraq and will continue to be key in our battle against international terrorism. So I think both of those things need to be done.
PILGRIM: We see a proposal to double Special Forces. They've been so critical in Afghanistan especially. How do you get the training? What is the learning curve on that? You can't do that quickly, can you?
SHALIKASHVILI: You surely cannot. It's much more difficult to increase the size of Special Forces than it is to increase the size of the regular Army units. Nevertheless, I think it can be done, it should be done, but we need to be clear that it will take some time because, if we rush this, then we will very likely reduce the overall quality of Special Forces, and that's the last thing that we want to do.
PILGRIM: And they are at the top of their game.
Let's talk about the National Guard, and, in fact, there's a proposal by John Kerry to let the National Guard be National Guard, and, in fact, 40 percent of the troops in Iraq are either Reservists or National Guard. He says that weakens homeland security.
Let's have the National Guard come home and be National Guard. That's a very nice proposal, makes a lot of common sense, and yet you have the very difficult issue of how do you have enough active duty troops in the field at that point. How do you solve that problem?
SHALIKASHVILI: It is important that we rethink the roles and missions of the Guard and reorient them towards being more helpful and fuller partners in this effort of providing homeland security. I think that might involve changing some organizations, changing some equipment that they have, changing roles and missions. All of that will make it possible for the Guard units to be better partners with civil authorities in protecting our homeland.
PILGRIM: We hear this week about a stop-loss policy that will go into effect to stop troops from retiring when their term is up, to stay with their units until their deployment of their entire unit is finished. This is not unusual in wartime.
However, it is a particularly harsh assignment for some troops who've been overstretched in Iraq for a long time. Is the stop-loss policy necessary, and how do we continue without putting undue hardship on our troops?
SHALIKASHVILI: The only way you can begin to fix that is with a proposal that Senator Kerry has made, and that is to increase the total strength of the active Army, in his view -- and I fully agree with that -- by about 40,000. Will that make stop-loss some program of the past? No. But it will go a long way to make it less likely that, in the future, we will have to use stop-loss.
PILGRIM: How do you attract young men to the military in time of war?
SHALIKASHVILI: I think you're right that it's a tough assignment, but it is certainly within the realm of possibility. Young men and women join the military because they want to be part of the A team. They want to have the feeling that they're doing something worthwhile for their country, and, when you look at what our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in places like Iraq and Afghanistan are doing, that is truly the A team, and I believe there are enough American men and women who want to be part of such effort.
PILGRIM: General Shalikashvili, thank you.
SHALIKASHVILI: You're very welcome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now the Bush-Cheney campaign tonight is hoping that the Illinois legislature can correct a glitch in its election law that would keep President Bush off the state's ballot come November.
Illinois has a deadline of August 30 for all official nominees to be added to the ballot, and, this year, the Republican convention ends on September 2. That's three days after the deadline. Lawmakers in Illinois adjourned last week without voting to extend that deadline.
The speaker of the Illinois State House has called for a special vote next week to address the issue.
One factor that could only help President Bush is strong job growth, and the Labor Department today said companies are adding jobs at the fastest rate in four years. Now the May jobs report showed an increase of 248,000 jobs, and Christine Romans is here with the details -- Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Christine, These past three months have been the strongest in four years, Kitty, for the job market, jobs created in hospitals, restaurants, factories, construction sites. Only the government and the telecommunications industry lost jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: We've added 900,000 jobs over the last three months and 1.4 million jobs since last August. The policies in place are working. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS; One-point-two million jobs have still been lost during Bush's presidency, but, at this pace, 250,000 jobs a month until the election, he will not be the first president since Herbert Hoover to lose jobs on his watch, but that is if this jobs growth keeps up, and the senior Democrat's Joint Economic Committee said the labor market is far from healthy.
Representative Pete Stark from California says, "We still have a job deficit, and most of the economic growth we've seen has just fattened businesses' balance sheets, not workers' paychecks."
Also, Banc One Economist Anthony Chan says, you know, a typical recovery has 5.4 million jobs by now. We're not anywhere near that.
And, for Maytag employees today, a reminder. Eleven hundred jobs will be lost there, the latest job losses in that sector as well.
PILGRIM: All right. Thanks very much.
Christine Romans.
Let's do the topic of tonight's poll. And here it is: Are you satisfied with the pace of job growth in this country? Yes or no. Cast your vote at cnn.com/lou, and we will bring you the results later in the show.
And, when we return, much more on the outlook for the job market, plus the politics of intelligence. Three of this country's leading journalists will join us.
And Outta Gas, seeking alternative fuel sources in some very unexpected places. We'll have a special report coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: LOU DOBBS TONIGHT continues. Sitting in for Lou Dobbs, Kitty Pilgrim.
PILGRIM: It was a pretty good day for stocks on Wall Street, thanks to Intel's forecast and the May jobs report. The Dow closed up nearly 47 points. The NASDAQ gained more than 18. And the S&P 500 up about 6. And, as we reported, the economy added a quarter million new jobs in May. That is welcome news for the eight million Americans who are still looking for work.
That jobs report was just one positive, though, in a week that was dominated by continued violence in Iraq and also the surprising resignation of the CIA Director George Tenet.
And joining us for this week's newsmakers is Ron Brownstein, national political correspondent for the "Los Angeles Times"; Rik Kirkland, managing editor of "Fortune"; and Steve Shepard, editor in chief of "BusinessWeek."
And thank you all for joining us.
Let's start with jobs. Nice note to end the week on. Let's start with you.
STEVE SHEPARD, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "BUSINESS WEEK": Boom numbers. There's no question about it, and it's not just the May report. They revised the numbers for the two previous months so that we've created nearly a million jobs in the last three months, and, at that rate, that's just extraordinary, combined with still good productivity, and we're starting to see wage growth for the first time in a long time. So that's good.
RIK KIRKLAND, MANAGING EDITOR, "FORTUNE": And what's nice is you're also seeing it in manufacturing, which has been the hardest hit area, and you're seeing it is across the board. I mean, measures of, you know, the dispersion of the stuff across industries are back to sort of '90s level. So it's all a sign that all the cylinders are firing now.
PILGRIM: Ron, thoughts?
RON BROWNSTEIN, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Well, politically, for the president, obviously, this is very welcome news, and it interacts with the other big story of the week, the completion of the Iraqi interim government.
You know, there's a view in the White House -- obviously, historically, there's a lag in the public perception of the economy improving. It takes a while for people to sort of register that news, but they also feel that the good jobs numbers haven't helped them more because there's been so much gloom over Iraq.
They're hoping they've reached a kind of tipping point on both issues now where Iraq looks a little better, and, thus, these kinds of job numbers will get more attention from the public.
PILGRIM: You know, let's talk about Iraq because, about two weeks ago, everyone was saying they would absolutely not make that June 30 deadline. Now it looks like things are fairly on track. The interim government is proceeding. What's your view of how things are going?
SHEPARD: Well, I think one of the most hopeful signs is the appointment of John Danforth to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, succeeding John Negroponte, not only because it will be easy to approve him in the Senate, but because he's a moderate. They didn't put in a hard line, which is a signal that they want to work with the United Nations to bring the U.N. in and get international backing finally to restore order there.
PILGRIM: A real positive.
You know, there was a lot of give and take in choosing who would be in the interim government, and, in fact, someone mentioned to me earlier in the week that this pushback and this sort of scramble to find alternate candidates was actually positive. It showed that there was a process in place.
KIRKLAND: There are signs not just in this process but elsewhere the Iraqis really are beginning to sort of insist in still a fairly limited way that, you know, this is our country, and we'd like a bigger share in running it, and we're starting to see, you know, politics as usual, which is a process of brokering deals rather than just issuing an order from a central commander. So that was encouraging.
You know, this is still not going to be accepted as the real government, though, until they have the elections, and then Sistani just issued sort of qualified support for this, the chief ayatollah there saying of this supposed government I look forward to seeing what it does. But it won't -- that qualifier will be there until we have an election.
PILGRIM: Let's move to the real wild card of the week, which is George Tenet, and let's start with Ron.
Go ahead, Ron.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, I think the White House views this as both an opportunity and a challenge, obviously. The fact that they're going to have to appoint another CIA director is going to provide an opportunity at confirmation hearings for critics to raise all of the issues that are out there, from the WMD to 9/11 to the prison scandal in Iraq.
On the other hand, they feel like those are going to come either way. This may give them opportunity to send a signal in change in policy, perhaps even an a bipartisan signal. Some of the names they're talking about, or at least throwing around, include Democrats, Jim Woolsey, who served in the job under President Clinton, some people talk about Sam Nunn or David Booran (ph). So, they're hoping that they may be able to send a message that in effect, they've gotten the message and are trying to set some new directions.
PILGRIM: Steve, do you think that they will they risk this confirmation process, though, in an election...
SHEPARD: Before the election?
PILGRIM: Yes.
SHEPARD: No. I don't think they'll do it before the election, precisely, because they don't want to raise all those issues that Ron just mentioned. I think think we can't let George Tenet be the fall guy for all the intelligence failures that we've seen in this country.
PILGRIM: Do you think he was?
SHEPARD: No. He shouldn't be. There are a lot of people who bear responsibility. But it is not a blame game, because I think we have to figure out what we want to do. How do you organize 16 agencies that have something to do with intelligence? Do you have one super agency? Do you get some consolidation with common oversight? What do you do? This is a management problem. And it is not at all clear. And that's what we need to focus on rather than who is the next head of the CIA.
PILGRIM: Well, in the 9/11 hearings they were discussing restructuring. And pretty much everyone did not want the FBI included in the CIA. There was a lot of push back on that. Do you think, though, that this opens up the dialogue to doing it?
SHEPARD: I think we'll have a vigorous debate. But as David Ensor suggested earlier tonight, I don't think any of this is actually going to won't move forward until we have either a reelected president or a new president and then we'll have this debate for '05.
PILGRIM: OK. Let's continue to talk about the economy. And I wanted to move forward beyond the jobs. We have oil. We have an OPEC statement this week. Although they were already producing at pretty high levels, they agreed to produce more. What's your view of the OPEC decision? SHEPARD: Well, it sounds better than it really is because, as you say have been producing at the higher level. In fact, they're producing at a level higher than the new target. I just don't think there's a lot more oil they can produce.
PILGRIM: What kind of decision is that, actually?
SHEPARD: It is symbolic and it's face-saving. And it shows -- the Saudis are saying, look. We're on your side. We want to keep prices down and so on. But the reality is, that prices aren't going to come down very, very much in the short run. We just don't have the supply there.
KIRKLAND: There's two reasons prices are up. One is the terror premium that people talk about. And the other is that demand is up, because the U.S. and, particularly China, have been so strong.
So, you know, the good news is we have a strong economy. If it weakens, oil prices will go down. I'm not sure we want that. I think if we can live with it at $35 to $40 a barrel, which we can, we're fine. If it spikes up to $50, we have a problem.
PILGRIM: Ron, do you think is this the real thing that can derail the economy? That's very much the discussion.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, there's also -- that's unclear. We have a lot of momentum going. I think the question, as we look at it in the context of the election is, does is it provide an alternative argument for John Kerry now that the central economic case of the Democrats, the lack of jobs, the job loss over the Bush presidency is really eroding on them amidst these numbers.
What you've got, I think, Kitty, is Kerry moving toward an economic squeeze argument, in which he highlights things like gas prices, tuition increase, healthcare premiums, trying to make an argument that even as some of the macro indicators are better, Americans are still being squeezed between slow wages and rising costs. It is a second order argument, I think, historically, in presidential campaigns, but it is what they're left with as the job market improves.
PILGRIM: All right. Thanks very much. We have to end it there. And it's a nice note to end it on. Thanks very much for joining us. Rik Kirkland, Steve Shepard and Ron Brownstein, thank you.
Coming up next, the next revolution in energy production is waste. Our special report, "Outta Gas," on the tremendous energy challenges facing this country.
And then, the latest industry to fall victim to cheap imports. And it could cost hundreds of thousands a jobs.
And Israel's Ariel Sharon takes a bold step to peace. But will it be enough? Israeli Consul General Alon Pinkas will be my guest. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Tonight, we conclude our series of special reports, "Outta Gas: A Look at Energy in America." And tonight, we look at a company that has developed a remarkable new technology to convert waste into fuel. Bill Tucker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What do butchered turkey parts have to do with this oil truck? Everything. The turkeys are where the oil comes from. And that's not all.
P.J. SAMSON, PRESIDENT, RENEWABLE ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS: We get oil, fuel oil, which is a split between a gas and a diesel fuel, about a No. 2 diesel fuel. We generate a mineral, a fertilizer screen, both solid and liquid stage, and we generate gas that we use in the process to heat.
TUCKER: Sound too good to be true? Well, the plant is real. The products are tangible. From 200 tons of turkey waste this plant can produce roughly 450 barrels of oil a day, which is being sold commercially. Perhaps it is no wonder that the plant is in the show- me state of Missouri. You do have to see it to believe it. As for the plant, it looks a lot like a refinery.
DON SANDERS, PLANT MANAGER: The fuels we make are a lot cleaner. Refinery, basically, they get their crude from the ground, which has a lot more sulfur content and other contaminates in it that we don't have. So we don't have to go through as much clean-up as the refinery would.
TUCKER: The plant produces more energy than it uses. It puts out 40,000 gallons of clean water while only using 10,000 gallons. The mineral stream it produces can be used in animal feed or as a fertilizer.
The whole process is environmentally clean. And it is not limited to agricultural waste, the technology can process tires as well as plastics as well as other waste into oil.
(on camera): As amazing as this technology is perhaps, even more amazing is that the fuel it produces is not recognized as a bio diesel under the rules written by Congress. And that means it doesn't qualify for subsidies and it is a technology that is not officially encouraged.
(voice-over): So there are no tax credit, no tax breaks. Those are resolved for ethanol producers.
BRIAN APPEL, CEO CHANGING WORLD TECHNOLOGIES: We like to see some incentives so we can deploy more of the plants quickly and make more meaningful amounts of oil, impacting how we produce our energy.
TUCKER: But as of now, there appear to be no incentives on the horizon. Bill Tucker, CNN, Carthage, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now, a look at some of your thoughts. Christian of Huntsville, Alabama wrote in about our report last night on the nation's nuclear power plants. And he wrote, "nuclear power, ah, glad someone will finally look at our solution. It's been amazing to me that we are ignoring what is essentially an easy source of energy with a very, very long term supply of raw materials. But, in this country, if anyone says nuclear, people seem to go nuclear."
Katherine of Florida says, "before we go tapping the petroleum reserve, maybe we should try a lot harder at conserving what we do when that reserve is gone."
And Susan from San Pedro, California. She says, "I think it's time for this country to tap into the reservoir of common sense and make resource conservation a priority. We must be good stewards of the scarce resources that this Earth was blessed with."
We absolutely love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts at loudobbs@CNN.com.
Still ahead, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon stakes his political future on his plan to withdraw Jewish settlements from Gaza. And I will talk with Israel's Consul General Alon Pinkas next.
And in "Heroes," the inspiring story of a soldier who faces combat for the first time in Afghanistan and came home with a medal for bravery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today took drastic action to ensure his cabinet supports his plan to withdraw from Gaza. Sharon fired two hardline government ministers who opposed his plan. In doing so Sharon risks provoking a political crisis that could bring down his government. At issue is the future of 7,500 Jewish settlers in Gaza. Sharon wants to remove all 21 Jewish settlements from Gaza by the end of next year. Joining me now is Israel's consul general in New York, Ambassador Alon Pinkas. Thanks very much for joining us. This has not been easy politically. This is the second draft from Mr. Sharon. Do you think it will succeed with his cabinet?
ALON PINKAS, CONSUL GENERAL TO ISRAEL: Yes, provided that he does submit this to a cabinet approval on Sunday which he has pledged and vowed to do several times in the last 48 hours. And given that he fired those two ministers and given that he knows the balance of power inside his cabinet, he should win the vote either 11-10, if the three rebel ministers as they are called, finance minister Netanyahu, foreign minister Silvan Shalom and education minister Limor Livnat, even if those three decide to vote against then he wins 11-10. If they change their mind, which he still hopes they will between now and Sunday, then, obviously, the margin grows.
PILGRIM: The worry about a collapse of his government and reelection. How realistic is that? Do you think that that's overblown? Do you think that that's a possibility? PINKAS: Well, it is Israeli politics. Nothing is overblown. Everything is possible. When you think you're looking at anarchy, you're wrong, it is only chaos. Anarchy will come later. That being said, he did provoke, as you said, in the first comment you made, he did provoke a political crisis. Even if he does get this through the cabinet, he still needs to get the Gaza disengagement plan as we commonly refer to it through the Knesset, through our parliament which is 120 members strong. If the right-wing parties, those who he fired, I mean, the ministers from the party that he fired and the other national religious party, if they leave his coalition, which is almost a foregone conclusion and a political inevidentability then he may stay on with the 55 members-strong coalition. That, obviously, a crisis.
PILGRIM: Let's share with our viewers what the plan is that's the great controversy over. It is the proposal to withdraw 7,500 settlers from Gaza and to try to -- well, actually, I expect you could describe it better than I can but to try to put a lot of the emphasis on the settlers in the West Bank. We're showing a split on the populations there. Gaza, 7,500 settlers, West Bank 230,000. Is it politically smart to try to put all the energies and the security efforts into the larger population? Do you think that this is a successful choice, that this may help the situation?
PINKAS: Yes. But that being said, I think that the prime minister is not doing this because it is politically expedient or smart or savvy or the only thing he can do politically. I think he's doing so because it is the right thing to do for the state of Israel. I think he is beginning with Gaza because it is easier in Gaza. The topography is different. The enmeshing of two populations of the Palestinian and the Israeli Jewish population is different in Gaza than in the West Bank. Obviously, it is a checkerboard, checkers board, I'm sorry, in the West Bank while in the Gaza strip, as you said, it's 7,500 settlers scattered in 17 separate settlements. Technically, logistically, it could be easier although it is painful like any other dismantling.
PILGRIM: We haven't much time. But I do want to get into the Egyptian offer of help to try to train Palestinian security forces, to try to help with the situation. Israel receives that very well. We spoke with Palestinian peace negotiator Sa'ib Urayqat last night. He seemed to take it very well. He said that would be useful and helpful. That seems like a positive step forward, does it not?
PINKAS: It is a very, very positive step. It's definitely a step forward compared not to where we are today but compared to the somewhat lackluster and mellow involvement that the Egyptians have exhibited the last several years going back to Camp David four years ago when rather than support Arafat they kind of distanced themselves and left him to reject the Clinton plan. I think the Egyptians understand that they better get their act together in terms of their regional position but also in terms of the U.S. relationship. You are investing, you are contributing, you are grating Egypt $2 billion a year. It is time that they give it back somehow.
PILGRIM: Valuable ally to everyone it seems. Thanks very much for joining us, Alon Pinkas.
From the Middle East to U.S. military. In heroes tonight we introduce you to an army sergeant who has served this country all over the world. Sergeant Matthew Cootware served on humanitarian missions in Korea and also Egypt but it was his tour of duty in Afghanistan that changed him forever. Casey Wian has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sergeant Matthew Cootware is finally getting used to sleeping without his gun by his side and walking around without gear on his back. He's back home in upstate New York after a nine-month tour in Afghanistan where he faced combat for the first time.
SGT. MATTHEW COOTWARE, U.S ARMY: I've been deployed in the desert environment once or twice before. But this is just a whole different world. It is not natural to be shot at. That was a very changing experience for me.
WIAN: His platoon was ambushed on New Year's Eve. Cootware, a weapons squad leader with the 10th Mountain Division escaped without injury. A month earlier he survived an explosion when his humvee drove over a land mine.
COOTWARE: I lost my hearing for probably about five, six minute, couldn't see for about 30 seconds. It is actually just quite a blur.
WIAN: A fellow squad leader lost his leg in that accident leaving Cootware in charge of two squads. Cootware earned a bronze star for his leadership but the squad sergeant is quick to point out a handful in his platoon were honored with that same award. To Cootware, leadership is part of his job.
COOTWARE: I just do what comes as an instinct to me. Most of these guys are my good friends but they're also my soldiers. I'm lucky that we all came home alive to our family and friends.
WIAN: But three of Cootware's comrades did not make the trip home. Cootware escorted the body of Chad Fuller (ph) home.
COOTWARE: I think it took probably the whole day maybe two days for it to sink in and then his funeral service, I was one of the escorts that brought him here back (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for his family. I think that's when it sunk in deep. He was gone. He was a very good friend of mine.
WIAN: Sergeant Cootware's next tour of duty will keep him closer to home. He's heading to Ranger School as an instructor. Casey Wian, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Still to come. Another U.S. industry is hit hard by cheap overseas imports. Now American shrimpers say they're barely making it. And it is called the test of the champions. This weekend we'll find out if Smarty Jones is smart enough to pass the test. Details in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: We have reported extensively on the show about the loss of American jobs to cheap overseas competition. Tonight, another industry is suffering devastating losses due to cheap imports. Nearly 90 percent of the shrimp consumed in this country is imported from overseas shrimp farms. John Zarrella reports from Tarpon Springs, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the crew of the Nancy Joy, it had been a good trip. But these days, for shrimpers from Texas to the Carolinas, a good trip means just enough of a catch to keep their heads above water. Shrimpers say imports of farm-raised shrimp are driving down prices and sinking their business. John Williams has been shrimping for 40 years. The business he and his partner built here in Tarpon Springs on Florida's west coast was supposed to carry them into retirement. Not likely anymore.
JOHN WILLIAMS, SHRIMPER: You will be lucky to see the shrimp industry here within another year. Then an entire domestic shrimp industry will disappear. You are looking at 100,000 to 300,000 jobs.
ZARELLA: 1 billion pounds of farm-raised shrimp comes in every year from countries including China, Vietnam, India and Brazil. Imports account for 88 percent of the U.S. market. The wild shrimp John Williams got $2.20 a pound three years ago now brings 85 cents. At the price they're getting today, the Nancy Joy haul of shrimp is worth $18,000. After expenses, including the crew's pay, they're left with $4,800. That's not enough to cover a single month's bank payment on the boat. Shrimpers say the only way they can survive is if Washington imposes tariffs on the imports. Importers say all that will accomplish is to drive up prices.
TRAVIS LARKIN, SEAFOOD EXCHANGE PRESIDENT: There is a place for domestic producers in the market but restricting imports and restricting free trade is really only going to hurt the U.S. consumer. That won't accomplish anything in the long run.
ZARELLA: Florida shrimpers have gone on the offensive. Dropping $1 million on an advertising campaign promoting wild shrimp as having better texture and flavor, grand recognition they hope will net them enough business to at least keep them afloat. John Zarrella, CNN, Tarpon Springs, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Still ahead, we'll share the results of tonight's poll. Plus, five horses have come close in the past seven years but this weekend we could see the first triple crown winner in nearly three decades. We'll have that story when we return. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Now the results of tonight's poll. 5 percent of you are satisfied with the pace of job growth in this country. 95 percent are not.
It's the 136th running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. Philadelphia's Smarty Jones is favored to win the triple crown. If he wins, he will be the first triple crown winner in 26 years. Phillipa Holland has the story from Elmont, New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPA HOLLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Smarty Jones blew past his competition at the Preakness. Hard to believe he is the same colt who fractured his skull as a 2-year-old. If he wins the Belmont Stakes Smarty Jones will join just one other horse in all of racing history as an undefeated triple crown champion, the great Seattle Slew.
STEVE HASKIN, "THE RIOCO HORSE MAGAZINE": When you compare this horse to Seattle Slew, you are comparing him to royalty. If this horse wins the triple crown, he will not only be the king of horse racing but the king of sports and maybe even the king of America.
HOLLAND: Seattle Slew's trainers says Smarty Jones has the tools to be a champion.
GILLY TURNER, TRAINER, SEATTLE SLEW: He has good connections. He has a good trainer. He has an understanding owner. The horse likes to run. From what I gather right now, he's very healthy.
HOLLAND: This is the first time for anyone on the Smarty Jones team to be in triple crown contention.
JOHN SERVIS, TRAINER, SMARTY JONES: You know, we're not big-time guys, myself, Stewart (ph), the whole team. We're just humble guy from Philadelphia.
HOLLAND: A win at the Belmont and Smarty Jones and the humble guys from Philadelphia will have claimed yet another title, north America's richest race horse with more than $13 million in earnings. At a mile and a half, the Belmont Stakes is the longest race of the triple crown. After all the hype, it will take less than two and a half minutes for racing fans to know if Smarty Jones earned his place in racing's royalty. Phillipa Holland, CNN, Elmont, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Thanks for joining us tonight. And please join us Monday. We begin a week-long series, "Homeland Insecurity." Just how safe are the nation's roads, rails, and ports? We'll have a special report. For all of us here, have a great weekend. Good night from New York. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" is next.
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Aired June 4, 2004 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush defies protests in Rome and faces criticism from the pope as he visits Italy, one of America's staunchest allies.
Five American soldiers are killed in Baghdad, but, tonight, a new deal to end the fighting in southern Iraq. We'll have a report.
Senator Kerry says our military is stretched too thin. Kerry adviser General John Shalikashvili is my guest.
The economy created a quarter of a million new jobs in May, nearly a million new jobs in three months.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today's job report shows that the American economy is strong and it's getting stronger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: But hundreds of thousands of American jobs could be lost in the shrimp industry because of cheap imports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
You will be lucky to see a shrimp industry here within another year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Tonight, we'll have a special report from Florida.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Friday, June 4. Here now for an hour of news, debate and opinion, sitting in for Lou Dobbs who is on vacation, Kitty Pilgrim.
PILGRIM: Good evening.
President Bush today faced criticism from the pope and massive protests during a visit to Rome. The pope, a strong critic of the war against Saddam Hussein, declared he is troubled by what he called "deplorable events" in Iraq. Thousands of protesters tried and failed to disrupt the president's visit.
Senior White House Correspondent John King is traveling with the president and joins us from Rome -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty, good evening from Rome. The president's goal on this trip is to look forward to the political transition in Iraq, not back at the pre-war bitterness, but, as you noted, it came up today during a remarkable day in Rome.
Tonight, the president was in friendly company, having dinner with Prime Minister Silvio Berlisconi, a man who steadfastly supported President Bush and has sent 2,700 Italian security forces to Iraq to help Mr. Bush, despite public opposition here in his country.
Friendly company tonight, but, on the streets of Rome today, evidence of just how unpopular the war is here in Rome and across Europe, evidence of what a risk Prime Minister Berlisconi took in backing President Bush by the tens of thousands demonstrators in the street.
Some 10,000 police were deployed as well. The prime minister had worried these protests would turn violent. Instead, large demonstrations, but overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations criticizing the president of the United States and, more pointedly, criticizing his decision to wage war in Iraq.
Mr. Bush also came in for some personal criticism earlier in the day. He had requested and came to Italy one day early to make it work on the schedule to have an audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. Mr. Bush had a private meeting with the pontiff that ran about 25, 30 minutes.
Then, both men delivered public statements. In his, the pope said that the Vatican's opposition to the war in Iraq stood and was unequivocal. He talked about grave mistakes being made in Iraq now and also talked about deplorable acts, which the Vatican said was a clear reference to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. military personnel. Now the pontiff did call for a speedy transition to sovereignty in Iraq, and the White House took that as an endorsement of the current political plan under way in Iraq.
From Rome, Mr. Bush moves on to France tomorrow to meet with a chief war opponent, President Jacques Chirac of France. Mr. Bush hoping to mend fences, not revive the bitterness, and focus instead on that new United Nations Security Council resolution endorsing the political transition, more evidence of the president's focus on that transition.
Tonight, the White House announced, Kitty, that the new interim president of Iraq, Ghazi al-Yawar, will join other Group of 8 leaders and other Middle Eastern leaders next week in the United States for the annual G8 summit, this year being held in Sea Island, Georgia -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: John, the president today announced his choice for the next ambassador to the United Nations. What can you tell us about that? KING: The president choosing a man he believes will be overwhelmingly supported in the United States Senate and welcomed fondly at the United Nations, especially in the Security Council.
The president announcing tonight that Jack Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri, a veteran of the United States Senate, is his choice to replace John Negroponte as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Negroponte, of course, about to begin a very difficult mission as the new ambassador to Iraq.
In Jack Danforth, the president has someone who he personally tasked to be his special envoy to Sudan. Mr. Danforth has met many world ambassadors in that role and someone who is highly popular, many friendships with Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.
Because it is an election year, Kitty, the president does not want any major picks to face confirmation fights. They believe Senator Danforth will be quickly confirmed and overwhelmingly supported by his former colleagues in the United States Senate -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much.
John King in Rome.
Thanks, John.
In Iraq today, a deadly attack on American troops in Baghdad. Insurgents killed five soldiers traveling in a humvee in a Shiite district of eastern Baghdad. Five other soldiers are wounded. The troops are all members of the 1st Cavalry Division. Eight hundred and twenty-five troops have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war.
In southern Iraq, there was a new effort today to end weeks of fighting between American troops and Shiite gunmen. Both sides agreed to withdraw from the cities of Najaf and Kufa and turn over security to Iraqi police.
Guy Raz reports from Najaf.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what Kufa looked like a little more than 24 hours ago, U.S. forces battling a rebel militia. But if the latest plan to end the fighting succeeds, these Iraqi police will be patrolling the twin cities of Najaf and Kufa.
Najaf's governor believes he's brokered an end to six weeks of fighting. "I hereby order all fighting forces, both the coalition forces and the Mehdi Militia, to leave the holy cities," Zurufi said. In their place, Iraqi police will begin to deploy to restore order.
For weeks now, the streets of Najaf and neighboring Kufa have often been deserted. Previous attempts to negotiate an end to the fighting, including an intervention from former Iraqi Governing Council Member Ahmed Chalabi, have failed.
But this time, senior military officials are optimistic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the security forces are able to take charge of the security situation, then I would say that there really is no need for us to move into those areas and conduct reconnaissance efforts that we've been conducting so far.
RAZ: At Friday prayers in the two cities holy to Shiite Muslims, hope as well for an end to the daily barrage of artillery and gunfire.
Guy Raz, CNN, Najaf in southern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: In Washington today, new calls for major reforms at the Central Intelligence Agency after the surprise resignation of Director George Tenet. Tenet will leave the CIA July 11, and his deputy will become acting director.
National Security Correspondent David Ensor reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the intelligence community, for now, change comes in the form of John McLaughlin, George Tenet's deputy who will move up as acting director in July. A professorial, brainy CIA veteran who does magic tricks as a hobby, McLaughlin is regarded by professionals as a safe pair of hands who will mostly follow the Tenet line.
JOHN GANNON, FORMER CIA OFFICIAL: I think he's a phenomenal talent, and I think we can be confident that in the interim period the CIA and the intelligence community is in very good hands.
ENSOR: But, over the summer, the reports and recommendations will start to stream in from the 9/11 Commission and intelligence committees ion the Hill, proposals to change the CIA and U.S. intelligence to make it less likely to miss the next 9/11 attack and make it more likely to get estimates of weapons of mass destruction in a place like Iraq -- get them right next time.
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R-NE), SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE: We are going to have to completely restructure our community of intelligence networks, our focus, bring it into the 21st Century so that, in fact, it's relevant to the threats of the 21st Century. We are dealing with a 20th Century institution, and that's part of the problem that we've had over the last few years with our intelligence community.
ENSOR: The most prominent proposal thus far is to give whoever is the next intelligence chief more power over the 15 other intelligence agencies besides the CIA, the agencies that eavesdrop, crack codes and watch from outer space what rivals and potential enemies are up to.
Old hands worry about changes decided in haste in an election year.
GANNON: The danger of moving too fast is that you actually can do damage to what is working well within the community. So, again, I think...
ENSOR (on camera): But you still think that change is needed?
GANNON: I think change is needed. I think it has been needed and it has been taking place. I think the -- my own view and my own sense of accountability for when I was in the leadership in the intelligence community is that we were transforming, we just weren't transforming fast enough.
ENSOR: But with reports emerging in coming weeks expected to be scathing about intelligence mistakes in the runup to the Iraq war, change is in the air. The question is how much. The time is likely to be 2005.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: One of the most critical reports about the CIA is likely to come from the Senate Intelligence Committee. Now lawmakers are also waiting for the findings and recommendations of the commission investigating the September 11 attacks.
Congressional Correspondent Joe Johns reports -- Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Kitty.
CNN has been told this will be a harsh report, an indictment of the Central Intelligence Agency, as a matter of fact, the entire intelligence community. The chairman of the Intelligence Committee here on Capitol Hill, Pat Roberts of Kansas has been sharply critical. He even suggested before Tenet resigned that someone ought to be disciplined or fired. Roberts does have some ideas of his own on how to reform the agency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R-KA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I do expect, however, and demand that the Intelligence Committee be candid with the president and Congress about what it does know and what it doesn't know. A golden rule should be drilled into all analysts and managers: Tell me what you know, tell me what you don't know, tell me what you think, and make sure that I understand the difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Now CNN has been told that the findings are expected to say, among other things -- we do have a graphic -- that the claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction were based on unfounded assumptions, that information from a single source, for example, was characterized as from multiple sources, there was insufficient human intelligence on the ground, and that assertion of mobile biological weapons labs may have, in fact, been fabricated.
So those are some of the findings we expect in that report. The question, of course: When will that report come out? We're told right now the report is with the CIA where they're working on trying to declassify it. Once that is done, some are hoping it could be out later this month.
Kitty, back to you.
PILGRIM: All right. Thanks very much.
Joe Johns reporting from Washington.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is visiting Asia where one of the main topics of discussion is restructuring the military. Radical changes are also expected in the deployment of American troops in Europe. Now the restructuring is the most extensive realignment of U.S. forces since the end of the Cold War.
Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, Kitty, for decades, the U.S. has maintained a formidable military force in Germany, part of the old Cold War strategy designed to repulse a Soviet attack on western Europe. But, with the new threat of global terrorism, the U.S. is about to bring many of those American troops home.
Under the plan, sources say big bases in Germany, such as Ramstein Air Base and the U.S. European Command Headquarters in Stuttgart will remain. But as many as two divisions of Army troops will be brought back to the United States. When needed, those troops will be deployed to temporary expeditionary bases that have been offered by some of America's new allies in Europe, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania.
And while some German politicians have accused the U.S. of punishing Germany for its failure to support the U.S. decision to topple Saddam Hussein.
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, who is traveling in Asia where they're also making some military base realignments, insists this is something that's been in the works for quite a while and just makes sense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We have been for a long time in effect where we were when the Cold War end ended, and it's time to adjust those locations from static defense to a more agile and a more capable and a more 21st-Century posture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: U.S.-European commanders point out that even when they need troops in Europe, such as for the peacekeeping mission in the Balkans, those troops usually come from the United States. So basing them in Germany doesn't necessarily give them an advantage. In fact, it's sometimes an advantage to have them in other countries where the U.S. has an easier time deploying them.
Now Germany has a love-hate relationship with the United States over those troops. Obviously, the U.S. occupies a large amount of German real estate. But, at the same time, anytime you close a base or downsize a U.S. military presence, just as it has in the United States, it can have a devastating impact on the local economy.
These changes have not been finalized, but we are expecting the changes to be announced fairly soon -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: All right. Thanks very much.
Jamie McIntyre.
We'll have more on the future of the military next. I'll talk about Senator Kerry's plan for the armed forces with his military adviser, former Joint Chiefs Chairman General John Shalikashvili.
The economy created a quarter of a million new jobs last month. It's the strongest three months of the labor market in four years.
And "Outta Gas," the search for alternative energy sources. Even Turkey waste is being turned into oil. We'll have a special report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Senator John Kerry says the Bush administration has stretched the military too thin. The Democratic presidential candidate would increase the active duty military by 40,000 troops and double the size of the Special Forces. Senator Kerry would pay for the increase by cutting back what he says is a "unproven missile defense system."
I recently spoke with one of Senator Kerry's top military advisers, former Joint Chiefs Chairman General John Shalikashvili, and I began by asking the general whether it would be difficult to recruit 40,000 more troops.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEN. JOHN SHALIKASHVILI (RET.), FORMER JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: We have no indication at this time that would lead us to believe that you could not recruit another 40,000 for the active Army.
As a matter of fact, my sense is that not only must you increase the active Army combat units, but, at the same time, you have to increase significantly the Special Forces that have been so key in places like Afghanistan and in Iraq and will continue to be key in our battle against international terrorism. So I think both of those things need to be done.
PILGRIM: We see a proposal to double Special Forces. They've been so critical in Afghanistan especially. How do you get the training? What is the learning curve on that? You can't do that quickly, can you?
SHALIKASHVILI: You surely cannot. It's much more difficult to increase the size of Special Forces than it is to increase the size of the regular Army units. Nevertheless, I think it can be done, it should be done, but we need to be clear that it will take some time because, if we rush this, then we will very likely reduce the overall quality of Special Forces, and that's the last thing that we want to do.
PILGRIM: And they are at the top of their game.
Let's talk about the National Guard, and, in fact, there's a proposal by John Kerry to let the National Guard be National Guard, and, in fact, 40 percent of the troops in Iraq are either Reservists or National Guard. He says that weakens homeland security.
Let's have the National Guard come home and be National Guard. That's a very nice proposal, makes a lot of common sense, and yet you have the very difficult issue of how do you have enough active duty troops in the field at that point. How do you solve that problem?
SHALIKASHVILI: It is important that we rethink the roles and missions of the Guard and reorient them towards being more helpful and fuller partners in this effort of providing homeland security. I think that might involve changing some organizations, changing some equipment that they have, changing roles and missions. All of that will make it possible for the Guard units to be better partners with civil authorities in protecting our homeland.
PILGRIM: We hear this week about a stop-loss policy that will go into effect to stop troops from retiring when their term is up, to stay with their units until their deployment of their entire unit is finished. This is not unusual in wartime.
However, it is a particularly harsh assignment for some troops who've been overstretched in Iraq for a long time. Is the stop-loss policy necessary, and how do we continue without putting undue hardship on our troops?
SHALIKASHVILI: The only way you can begin to fix that is with a proposal that Senator Kerry has made, and that is to increase the total strength of the active Army, in his view -- and I fully agree with that -- by about 40,000. Will that make stop-loss some program of the past? No. But it will go a long way to make it less likely that, in the future, we will have to use stop-loss.
PILGRIM: How do you attract young men to the military in time of war?
SHALIKASHVILI: I think you're right that it's a tough assignment, but it is certainly within the realm of possibility. Young men and women join the military because they want to be part of the A team. They want to have the feeling that they're doing something worthwhile for their country, and, when you look at what our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in places like Iraq and Afghanistan are doing, that is truly the A team, and I believe there are enough American men and women who want to be part of such effort.
PILGRIM: General Shalikashvili, thank you.
SHALIKASHVILI: You're very welcome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now the Bush-Cheney campaign tonight is hoping that the Illinois legislature can correct a glitch in its election law that would keep President Bush off the state's ballot come November.
Illinois has a deadline of August 30 for all official nominees to be added to the ballot, and, this year, the Republican convention ends on September 2. That's three days after the deadline. Lawmakers in Illinois adjourned last week without voting to extend that deadline.
The speaker of the Illinois State House has called for a special vote next week to address the issue.
One factor that could only help President Bush is strong job growth, and the Labor Department today said companies are adding jobs at the fastest rate in four years. Now the May jobs report showed an increase of 248,000 jobs, and Christine Romans is here with the details -- Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Christine, These past three months have been the strongest in four years, Kitty, for the job market, jobs created in hospitals, restaurants, factories, construction sites. Only the government and the telecommunications industry lost jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: We've added 900,000 jobs over the last three months and 1.4 million jobs since last August. The policies in place are working. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS; One-point-two million jobs have still been lost during Bush's presidency, but, at this pace, 250,000 jobs a month until the election, he will not be the first president since Herbert Hoover to lose jobs on his watch, but that is if this jobs growth keeps up, and the senior Democrat's Joint Economic Committee said the labor market is far from healthy.
Representative Pete Stark from California says, "We still have a job deficit, and most of the economic growth we've seen has just fattened businesses' balance sheets, not workers' paychecks."
Also, Banc One Economist Anthony Chan says, you know, a typical recovery has 5.4 million jobs by now. We're not anywhere near that.
And, for Maytag employees today, a reminder. Eleven hundred jobs will be lost there, the latest job losses in that sector as well.
PILGRIM: All right. Thanks very much.
Christine Romans.
Let's do the topic of tonight's poll. And here it is: Are you satisfied with the pace of job growth in this country? Yes or no. Cast your vote at cnn.com/lou, and we will bring you the results later in the show.
And, when we return, much more on the outlook for the job market, plus the politics of intelligence. Three of this country's leading journalists will join us.
And Outta Gas, seeking alternative fuel sources in some very unexpected places. We'll have a special report coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: LOU DOBBS TONIGHT continues. Sitting in for Lou Dobbs, Kitty Pilgrim.
PILGRIM: It was a pretty good day for stocks on Wall Street, thanks to Intel's forecast and the May jobs report. The Dow closed up nearly 47 points. The NASDAQ gained more than 18. And the S&P 500 up about 6. And, as we reported, the economy added a quarter million new jobs in May. That is welcome news for the eight million Americans who are still looking for work.
That jobs report was just one positive, though, in a week that was dominated by continued violence in Iraq and also the surprising resignation of the CIA Director George Tenet.
And joining us for this week's newsmakers is Ron Brownstein, national political correspondent for the "Los Angeles Times"; Rik Kirkland, managing editor of "Fortune"; and Steve Shepard, editor in chief of "BusinessWeek."
And thank you all for joining us.
Let's start with jobs. Nice note to end the week on. Let's start with you.
STEVE SHEPARD, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "BUSINESS WEEK": Boom numbers. There's no question about it, and it's not just the May report. They revised the numbers for the two previous months so that we've created nearly a million jobs in the last three months, and, at that rate, that's just extraordinary, combined with still good productivity, and we're starting to see wage growth for the first time in a long time. So that's good.
RIK KIRKLAND, MANAGING EDITOR, "FORTUNE": And what's nice is you're also seeing it in manufacturing, which has been the hardest hit area, and you're seeing it is across the board. I mean, measures of, you know, the dispersion of the stuff across industries are back to sort of '90s level. So it's all a sign that all the cylinders are firing now.
PILGRIM: Ron, thoughts?
RON BROWNSTEIN, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Well, politically, for the president, obviously, this is very welcome news, and it interacts with the other big story of the week, the completion of the Iraqi interim government.
You know, there's a view in the White House -- obviously, historically, there's a lag in the public perception of the economy improving. It takes a while for people to sort of register that news, but they also feel that the good jobs numbers haven't helped them more because there's been so much gloom over Iraq.
They're hoping they've reached a kind of tipping point on both issues now where Iraq looks a little better, and, thus, these kinds of job numbers will get more attention from the public.
PILGRIM: You know, let's talk about Iraq because, about two weeks ago, everyone was saying they would absolutely not make that June 30 deadline. Now it looks like things are fairly on track. The interim government is proceeding. What's your view of how things are going?
SHEPARD: Well, I think one of the most hopeful signs is the appointment of John Danforth to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, succeeding John Negroponte, not only because it will be easy to approve him in the Senate, but because he's a moderate. They didn't put in a hard line, which is a signal that they want to work with the United Nations to bring the U.N. in and get international backing finally to restore order there.
PILGRIM: A real positive.
You know, there was a lot of give and take in choosing who would be in the interim government, and, in fact, someone mentioned to me earlier in the week that this pushback and this sort of scramble to find alternate candidates was actually positive. It showed that there was a process in place.
KIRKLAND: There are signs not just in this process but elsewhere the Iraqis really are beginning to sort of insist in still a fairly limited way that, you know, this is our country, and we'd like a bigger share in running it, and we're starting to see, you know, politics as usual, which is a process of brokering deals rather than just issuing an order from a central commander. So that was encouraging.
You know, this is still not going to be accepted as the real government, though, until they have the elections, and then Sistani just issued sort of qualified support for this, the chief ayatollah there saying of this supposed government I look forward to seeing what it does. But it won't -- that qualifier will be there until we have an election.
PILGRIM: Let's move to the real wild card of the week, which is George Tenet, and let's start with Ron.
Go ahead, Ron.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, I think the White House views this as both an opportunity and a challenge, obviously. The fact that they're going to have to appoint another CIA director is going to provide an opportunity at confirmation hearings for critics to raise all of the issues that are out there, from the WMD to 9/11 to the prison scandal in Iraq.
On the other hand, they feel like those are going to come either way. This may give them opportunity to send a signal in change in policy, perhaps even an a bipartisan signal. Some of the names they're talking about, or at least throwing around, include Democrats, Jim Woolsey, who served in the job under President Clinton, some people talk about Sam Nunn or David Booran (ph). So, they're hoping that they may be able to send a message that in effect, they've gotten the message and are trying to set some new directions.
PILGRIM: Steve, do you think that they will they risk this confirmation process, though, in an election...
SHEPARD: Before the election?
PILGRIM: Yes.
SHEPARD: No. I don't think they'll do it before the election, precisely, because they don't want to raise all those issues that Ron just mentioned. I think think we can't let George Tenet be the fall guy for all the intelligence failures that we've seen in this country.
PILGRIM: Do you think he was?
SHEPARD: No. He shouldn't be. There are a lot of people who bear responsibility. But it is not a blame game, because I think we have to figure out what we want to do. How do you organize 16 agencies that have something to do with intelligence? Do you have one super agency? Do you get some consolidation with common oversight? What do you do? This is a management problem. And it is not at all clear. And that's what we need to focus on rather than who is the next head of the CIA.
PILGRIM: Well, in the 9/11 hearings they were discussing restructuring. And pretty much everyone did not want the FBI included in the CIA. There was a lot of push back on that. Do you think, though, that this opens up the dialogue to doing it?
SHEPARD: I think we'll have a vigorous debate. But as David Ensor suggested earlier tonight, I don't think any of this is actually going to won't move forward until we have either a reelected president or a new president and then we'll have this debate for '05.
PILGRIM: OK. Let's continue to talk about the economy. And I wanted to move forward beyond the jobs. We have oil. We have an OPEC statement this week. Although they were already producing at pretty high levels, they agreed to produce more. What's your view of the OPEC decision? SHEPARD: Well, it sounds better than it really is because, as you say have been producing at the higher level. In fact, they're producing at a level higher than the new target. I just don't think there's a lot more oil they can produce.
PILGRIM: What kind of decision is that, actually?
SHEPARD: It is symbolic and it's face-saving. And it shows -- the Saudis are saying, look. We're on your side. We want to keep prices down and so on. But the reality is, that prices aren't going to come down very, very much in the short run. We just don't have the supply there.
KIRKLAND: There's two reasons prices are up. One is the terror premium that people talk about. And the other is that demand is up, because the U.S. and, particularly China, have been so strong.
So, you know, the good news is we have a strong economy. If it weakens, oil prices will go down. I'm not sure we want that. I think if we can live with it at $35 to $40 a barrel, which we can, we're fine. If it spikes up to $50, we have a problem.
PILGRIM: Ron, do you think is this the real thing that can derail the economy? That's very much the discussion.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, there's also -- that's unclear. We have a lot of momentum going. I think the question, as we look at it in the context of the election is, does is it provide an alternative argument for John Kerry now that the central economic case of the Democrats, the lack of jobs, the job loss over the Bush presidency is really eroding on them amidst these numbers.
What you've got, I think, Kitty, is Kerry moving toward an economic squeeze argument, in which he highlights things like gas prices, tuition increase, healthcare premiums, trying to make an argument that even as some of the macro indicators are better, Americans are still being squeezed between slow wages and rising costs. It is a second order argument, I think, historically, in presidential campaigns, but it is what they're left with as the job market improves.
PILGRIM: All right. Thanks very much. We have to end it there. And it's a nice note to end it on. Thanks very much for joining us. Rik Kirkland, Steve Shepard and Ron Brownstein, thank you.
Coming up next, the next revolution in energy production is waste. Our special report, "Outta Gas," on the tremendous energy challenges facing this country.
And then, the latest industry to fall victim to cheap imports. And it could cost hundreds of thousands a jobs.
And Israel's Ariel Sharon takes a bold step to peace. But will it be enough? Israeli Consul General Alon Pinkas will be my guest. Stay with us.
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PILGRIM: Tonight, we conclude our series of special reports, "Outta Gas: A Look at Energy in America." And tonight, we look at a company that has developed a remarkable new technology to convert waste into fuel. Bill Tucker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What do butchered turkey parts have to do with this oil truck? Everything. The turkeys are where the oil comes from. And that's not all.
P.J. SAMSON, PRESIDENT, RENEWABLE ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS: We get oil, fuel oil, which is a split between a gas and a diesel fuel, about a No. 2 diesel fuel. We generate a mineral, a fertilizer screen, both solid and liquid stage, and we generate gas that we use in the process to heat.
TUCKER: Sound too good to be true? Well, the plant is real. The products are tangible. From 200 tons of turkey waste this plant can produce roughly 450 barrels of oil a day, which is being sold commercially. Perhaps it is no wonder that the plant is in the show- me state of Missouri. You do have to see it to believe it. As for the plant, it looks a lot like a refinery.
DON SANDERS, PLANT MANAGER: The fuels we make are a lot cleaner. Refinery, basically, they get their crude from the ground, which has a lot more sulfur content and other contaminates in it that we don't have. So we don't have to go through as much clean-up as the refinery would.
TUCKER: The plant produces more energy than it uses. It puts out 40,000 gallons of clean water while only using 10,000 gallons. The mineral stream it produces can be used in animal feed or as a fertilizer.
The whole process is environmentally clean. And it is not limited to agricultural waste, the technology can process tires as well as plastics as well as other waste into oil.
(on camera): As amazing as this technology is perhaps, even more amazing is that the fuel it produces is not recognized as a bio diesel under the rules written by Congress. And that means it doesn't qualify for subsidies and it is a technology that is not officially encouraged.
(voice-over): So there are no tax credit, no tax breaks. Those are resolved for ethanol producers.
BRIAN APPEL, CEO CHANGING WORLD TECHNOLOGIES: We like to see some incentives so we can deploy more of the plants quickly and make more meaningful amounts of oil, impacting how we produce our energy.
TUCKER: But as of now, there appear to be no incentives on the horizon. Bill Tucker, CNN, Carthage, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now, a look at some of your thoughts. Christian of Huntsville, Alabama wrote in about our report last night on the nation's nuclear power plants. And he wrote, "nuclear power, ah, glad someone will finally look at our solution. It's been amazing to me that we are ignoring what is essentially an easy source of energy with a very, very long term supply of raw materials. But, in this country, if anyone says nuclear, people seem to go nuclear."
Katherine of Florida says, "before we go tapping the petroleum reserve, maybe we should try a lot harder at conserving what we do when that reserve is gone."
And Susan from San Pedro, California. She says, "I think it's time for this country to tap into the reservoir of common sense and make resource conservation a priority. We must be good stewards of the scarce resources that this Earth was blessed with."
We absolutely love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts at loudobbs@CNN.com.
Still ahead, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon stakes his political future on his plan to withdraw Jewish settlements from Gaza. And I will talk with Israel's Consul General Alon Pinkas next.
And in "Heroes," the inspiring story of a soldier who faces combat for the first time in Afghanistan and came home with a medal for bravery.
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PILGRIM: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today took drastic action to ensure his cabinet supports his plan to withdraw from Gaza. Sharon fired two hardline government ministers who opposed his plan. In doing so Sharon risks provoking a political crisis that could bring down his government. At issue is the future of 7,500 Jewish settlers in Gaza. Sharon wants to remove all 21 Jewish settlements from Gaza by the end of next year. Joining me now is Israel's consul general in New York, Ambassador Alon Pinkas. Thanks very much for joining us. This has not been easy politically. This is the second draft from Mr. Sharon. Do you think it will succeed with his cabinet?
ALON PINKAS, CONSUL GENERAL TO ISRAEL: Yes, provided that he does submit this to a cabinet approval on Sunday which he has pledged and vowed to do several times in the last 48 hours. And given that he fired those two ministers and given that he knows the balance of power inside his cabinet, he should win the vote either 11-10, if the three rebel ministers as they are called, finance minister Netanyahu, foreign minister Silvan Shalom and education minister Limor Livnat, even if those three decide to vote against then he wins 11-10. If they change their mind, which he still hopes they will between now and Sunday, then, obviously, the margin grows.
PILGRIM: The worry about a collapse of his government and reelection. How realistic is that? Do you think that that's overblown? Do you think that that's a possibility? PINKAS: Well, it is Israeli politics. Nothing is overblown. Everything is possible. When you think you're looking at anarchy, you're wrong, it is only chaos. Anarchy will come later. That being said, he did provoke, as you said, in the first comment you made, he did provoke a political crisis. Even if he does get this through the cabinet, he still needs to get the Gaza disengagement plan as we commonly refer to it through the Knesset, through our parliament which is 120 members strong. If the right-wing parties, those who he fired, I mean, the ministers from the party that he fired and the other national religious party, if they leave his coalition, which is almost a foregone conclusion and a political inevidentability then he may stay on with the 55 members-strong coalition. That, obviously, a crisis.
PILGRIM: Let's share with our viewers what the plan is that's the great controversy over. It is the proposal to withdraw 7,500 settlers from Gaza and to try to -- well, actually, I expect you could describe it better than I can but to try to put a lot of the emphasis on the settlers in the West Bank. We're showing a split on the populations there. Gaza, 7,500 settlers, West Bank 230,000. Is it politically smart to try to put all the energies and the security efforts into the larger population? Do you think that this is a successful choice, that this may help the situation?
PINKAS: Yes. But that being said, I think that the prime minister is not doing this because it is politically expedient or smart or savvy or the only thing he can do politically. I think he's doing so because it is the right thing to do for the state of Israel. I think he is beginning with Gaza because it is easier in Gaza. The topography is different. The enmeshing of two populations of the Palestinian and the Israeli Jewish population is different in Gaza than in the West Bank. Obviously, it is a checkerboard, checkers board, I'm sorry, in the West Bank while in the Gaza strip, as you said, it's 7,500 settlers scattered in 17 separate settlements. Technically, logistically, it could be easier although it is painful like any other dismantling.
PILGRIM: We haven't much time. But I do want to get into the Egyptian offer of help to try to train Palestinian security forces, to try to help with the situation. Israel receives that very well. We spoke with Palestinian peace negotiator Sa'ib Urayqat last night. He seemed to take it very well. He said that would be useful and helpful. That seems like a positive step forward, does it not?
PINKAS: It is a very, very positive step. It's definitely a step forward compared not to where we are today but compared to the somewhat lackluster and mellow involvement that the Egyptians have exhibited the last several years going back to Camp David four years ago when rather than support Arafat they kind of distanced themselves and left him to reject the Clinton plan. I think the Egyptians understand that they better get their act together in terms of their regional position but also in terms of the U.S. relationship. You are investing, you are contributing, you are grating Egypt $2 billion a year. It is time that they give it back somehow.
PILGRIM: Valuable ally to everyone it seems. Thanks very much for joining us, Alon Pinkas.
From the Middle East to U.S. military. In heroes tonight we introduce you to an army sergeant who has served this country all over the world. Sergeant Matthew Cootware served on humanitarian missions in Korea and also Egypt but it was his tour of duty in Afghanistan that changed him forever. Casey Wian has the story.
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CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sergeant Matthew Cootware is finally getting used to sleeping without his gun by his side and walking around without gear on his back. He's back home in upstate New York after a nine-month tour in Afghanistan where he faced combat for the first time.
SGT. MATTHEW COOTWARE, U.S ARMY: I've been deployed in the desert environment once or twice before. But this is just a whole different world. It is not natural to be shot at. That was a very changing experience for me.
WIAN: His platoon was ambushed on New Year's Eve. Cootware, a weapons squad leader with the 10th Mountain Division escaped without injury. A month earlier he survived an explosion when his humvee drove over a land mine.
COOTWARE: I lost my hearing for probably about five, six minute, couldn't see for about 30 seconds. It is actually just quite a blur.
WIAN: A fellow squad leader lost his leg in that accident leaving Cootware in charge of two squads. Cootware earned a bronze star for his leadership but the squad sergeant is quick to point out a handful in his platoon were honored with that same award. To Cootware, leadership is part of his job.
COOTWARE: I just do what comes as an instinct to me. Most of these guys are my good friends but they're also my soldiers. I'm lucky that we all came home alive to our family and friends.
WIAN: But three of Cootware's comrades did not make the trip home. Cootware escorted the body of Chad Fuller (ph) home.
COOTWARE: I think it took probably the whole day maybe two days for it to sink in and then his funeral service, I was one of the escorts that brought him here back (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for his family. I think that's when it sunk in deep. He was gone. He was a very good friend of mine.
WIAN: Sergeant Cootware's next tour of duty will keep him closer to home. He's heading to Ranger School as an instructor. Casey Wian, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Still to come. Another U.S. industry is hit hard by cheap overseas imports. Now American shrimpers say they're barely making it. And it is called the test of the champions. This weekend we'll find out if Smarty Jones is smart enough to pass the test. Details in a moment.
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PILGRIM: We have reported extensively on the show about the loss of American jobs to cheap overseas competition. Tonight, another industry is suffering devastating losses due to cheap imports. Nearly 90 percent of the shrimp consumed in this country is imported from overseas shrimp farms. John Zarrella reports from Tarpon Springs, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the crew of the Nancy Joy, it had been a good trip. But these days, for shrimpers from Texas to the Carolinas, a good trip means just enough of a catch to keep their heads above water. Shrimpers say imports of farm-raised shrimp are driving down prices and sinking their business. John Williams has been shrimping for 40 years. The business he and his partner built here in Tarpon Springs on Florida's west coast was supposed to carry them into retirement. Not likely anymore.
JOHN WILLIAMS, SHRIMPER: You will be lucky to see the shrimp industry here within another year. Then an entire domestic shrimp industry will disappear. You are looking at 100,000 to 300,000 jobs.
ZARELLA: 1 billion pounds of farm-raised shrimp comes in every year from countries including China, Vietnam, India and Brazil. Imports account for 88 percent of the U.S. market. The wild shrimp John Williams got $2.20 a pound three years ago now brings 85 cents. At the price they're getting today, the Nancy Joy haul of shrimp is worth $18,000. After expenses, including the crew's pay, they're left with $4,800. That's not enough to cover a single month's bank payment on the boat. Shrimpers say the only way they can survive is if Washington imposes tariffs on the imports. Importers say all that will accomplish is to drive up prices.
TRAVIS LARKIN, SEAFOOD EXCHANGE PRESIDENT: There is a place for domestic producers in the market but restricting imports and restricting free trade is really only going to hurt the U.S. consumer. That won't accomplish anything in the long run.
ZARELLA: Florida shrimpers have gone on the offensive. Dropping $1 million on an advertising campaign promoting wild shrimp as having better texture and flavor, grand recognition they hope will net them enough business to at least keep them afloat. John Zarrella, CNN, Tarpon Springs, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Still ahead, we'll share the results of tonight's poll. Plus, five horses have come close in the past seven years but this weekend we could see the first triple crown winner in nearly three decades. We'll have that story when we return. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Now the results of tonight's poll. 5 percent of you are satisfied with the pace of job growth in this country. 95 percent are not.
It's the 136th running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. Philadelphia's Smarty Jones is favored to win the triple crown. If he wins, he will be the first triple crown winner in 26 years. Phillipa Holland has the story from Elmont, New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPA HOLLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Smarty Jones blew past his competition at the Preakness. Hard to believe he is the same colt who fractured his skull as a 2-year-old. If he wins the Belmont Stakes Smarty Jones will join just one other horse in all of racing history as an undefeated triple crown champion, the great Seattle Slew.
STEVE HASKIN, "THE RIOCO HORSE MAGAZINE": When you compare this horse to Seattle Slew, you are comparing him to royalty. If this horse wins the triple crown, he will not only be the king of horse racing but the king of sports and maybe even the king of America.
HOLLAND: Seattle Slew's trainers says Smarty Jones has the tools to be a champion.
GILLY TURNER, TRAINER, SEATTLE SLEW: He has good connections. He has a good trainer. He has an understanding owner. The horse likes to run. From what I gather right now, he's very healthy.
HOLLAND: This is the first time for anyone on the Smarty Jones team to be in triple crown contention.
JOHN SERVIS, TRAINER, SMARTY JONES: You know, we're not big-time guys, myself, Stewart (ph), the whole team. We're just humble guy from Philadelphia.
HOLLAND: A win at the Belmont and Smarty Jones and the humble guys from Philadelphia will have claimed yet another title, north America's richest race horse with more than $13 million in earnings. At a mile and a half, the Belmont Stakes is the longest race of the triple crown. After all the hype, it will take less than two and a half minutes for racing fans to know if Smarty Jones earned his place in racing's royalty. Phillipa Holland, CNN, Elmont, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Thanks for joining us tonight. And please join us Monday. We begin a week-long series, "Homeland Insecurity." Just how safe are the nation's roads, rails, and ports? We'll have a special report. For all of us here, have a great weekend. Good night from New York. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" is next.
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