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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Bush Administration Divided Over Iraq; Bush, Kerry Escalate Attacks
Aired September 27, 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.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, is the Bush administration divided over the future of Iraq? Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell offer different views on the direction of Iraq. We'll have a special report.
President Bush and Senator Kerry today sharply escalated their attacks on each other, just days before the first presidential debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN F. KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we don't need are all these phony 30-second, 60-second, trumped-up, special- interest advertisements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He probably could spend 90 minutes debating himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: One of this country's leading experts on the Middle East and Iraq, Professor Fouad Ajami, says America is on its own in Iraq. Professor Ajami is my guest.
Mahdi Obeidi joins me as well, the mastermind of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program and author of "The Bomb in My Garden."
Nearly three million people are without power tonight in Florida. Thousands of people are homeless. Floridians are struggling to recover from the terrible destruction of Hurricane Jeanne.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB EBELING, HURRICANE VICTIM: The devastation and destruction is unimaginable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: And a dramatic warning tonight about Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington State. Seismologists say there could be an eruption and soon. We'll have a special report.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Monday September 27. Here now for an hour of news, debate and opinion is Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening.
Tonight, the first presidential debate is only three days away, and both President Bush and Senator Kerry launched a new wave of attacks against each other's Iraq policies.
President Bush said Senator Kerry has so many positions on Iraq that Senator Kerry could spend 90 minutes debating himself. For his part, Senator Kerry said the president is trying to hide the true facts on Iraq from voters.
We'll have a report on the Kerry campaign, but first, Elaine Quijano reports on the Bush campaign from Westchester, Ohio -- Elaine?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, fresh off of a weekend of debate preparations at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, President Bush did launch more attacks against his Democratic opponent, Senator John Kerry, over the issue of Iraq.
Now the president's comments coming at two campaign rallies. The first stop, a focus on education event in Springfield, Ohio. Then here again in Westchester just a short time ago.
By the way, Bush campaign officials say this rally in Westchester was the largest in GOP history: 44,000 tickets distributed. More than 50,000 people turned out, according to the Bush campaign.
But here in Westchester, the president blasted Senator Kerry for having what Mr. Bush said was an inconsistent position on Iraq. The president saying, "You cannot lead if you don't know where you stand."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: It's been a little tough to prepare for the debates because he keeps changing his positions.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: Especially on the war. I mean, after all, he voted for the use of force, but against funding the troops. He said that we're not spending enough money to reconstruct Iraq, yet now says we're spending too much. He said it was the right decision to go into Iraq. Yet now he calls it the wrong war. I think he can spend 90 minutes debating himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now the Bush campaign today releasing new a television ad trying to reinforce that image of John Kerry as a flip-flopper as the president continues campaigning, but the Kerry camp says that the ad takes Senator Kerry's statements out of context.
Meantime, the president now is headed back to his ranch in Crawford Texas, for more debate preparations. White House Communication Director Dan Bartlett says the president is bracing for a series of attacks by John Kerry, but that the president is very comfortable with the pace of his preparations, and now he says it is a matter of fine-tuning -- Lou.
DOBBS: Elaine Quijano.
Thank you very much.
Senator Kerry today blasted President Bush for saying he has no regrets about declaring the end of major combat in Iraq 18 months ago. Senator Kerry said President Bush has failed to accomplish his mission in Iraq, and Senator Kerry said the president knows it.
Frank Buckley reports from Dodgeville, Wisconsin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator John Kerry broke from debate prep to campaign. Kerry returning to his now familiar theme of criticizing President Bush on a central topic for Thursday's debate -- Iran. This time, Kerry invoked the image President Bush aboard the "USS Abraham Lincoln" under a banner reading "Mission Accomplished."
KERRY: The mission was not accomplished when he said it. He didn't know it and didn't understand it. It's not accomplished today, and he's still trying to hide from the American people.
BUCKLEY: Kerry aides say the continuing critique of President Bush on Iraq helps Kerry make the case that President Bush can't fix problems if he doesn't acknowledge them, an argument they can also apply to domestic issues, like the economy.
KERRY: Income's going down, and he just doesn't care. He's out of touch with the average American's problems because he keeps fighting for Halliburton and Enron and all those big companies, and we need a president who fights for the average person.
BUCKLEY: But Kerry continues to face criticism himself. A new Bush campaign ad using Kerry's own words to try to portray him as inconsistent on Iraq, and, following Kerry's town hall event in Wisconsin, he was criticized by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani who made an appearance in the same city.
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: President Bush is very plain-speaking, he's very straight, he knows his positions, and he doesn't change them.
BUCKLEY: Kerry says he has been consistent on Iraq.
KERRY: I've had one position steady all the way, folks, that I thought we ought to stand up and hold Saddam Hussein accountable, but I thought we ought to do it the right way, and doing it the right way means having the patience and the maturity to bring allies to our side.
BUCKLEY: Aides to Senator Kerry say he is preparing for Thursday's debate with mock debate sessions here in Wisconsin. Playing the role of moderator Jim Lehrer, his political adviser Bob Shrum. Playing the role of President Bush is Greg Craig, a former Clinton administration official. On Wednesday, Senator Kerry flies to Florida on the eve of the real thing.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Dodgeville, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Senator Edward Kennedy also launched an all-out attack on the Bush administration policy in Iraq today. In a speech at George Washington University Senator Kennedy said the administration's policies have fueled the insurgency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The president's handling of the war has been a toxic mix of ignorance, arrogance and stubborn ideology. No amount of presidential rhetoric or preposterous campaign spin can conceal the truth about the steady downward spiral in our national security since President Bush made the decision to go to war in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Senator Kennedy said that American troops in Iraq are bogged down in a quagmire, as he put it, and he says there is no end in sight.
There also appears to be a growing debate within the Bush administration about American goals in Iraq. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says Iraqi elections in January may not be held in the entire country because of the escalating insurgency. But Secretary of State Colin Powell insists the elections will be held across the whole of Iraq.
Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Secretary of State Colin Powell has come out strongly for Iraqi elections with full participation by all Iraqis.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Look, we have to keep shooting for it, and what is achievable is to give everybody the opportunity to vote in the upcoming election, to make the election fully credible.
PILGRIM: But Donald Rumsfeld's statement last week suggested a partial vote would be acceptable.
RUMSFELD: And let's say you tried to have an election, and you could have it in three-quarters or four-fifths of the country, but some places you couldn't because the violence was too great. Well, that's -- so be it. Nothing's perfect in life. So you have an election that's not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet."
PILGRIM: Today, a diplomatic scramble to reconcile the two views.
ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I don't think you should read into different phrasings of the same idea differences of opinion or differences of assessment.
PILGRIM: It's not the first time the defense secretary and the secretary of state appeared to be at odds. Both have iconic presence but vastly different styles. It is often noted in the press and, on occasion, those differences can muddle the message.
For example, in 2001, on the issue of China, when Powell pointedly characterized China as a, quote, "friend" rather than a, quote, "strategic competitor," Rumsfeld flew 'round the world to stand with him in Australia to dispel the differences.
Powell's return to the talk-show circuit may have to do with the election cycle. Powell's recent popularity ratings make him an asset in the presidential campaign. A "TIME" magazine poll found 74 percent of people approve of the job Powell is doing versus 39 percent for Rumsfeld.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now both Powell and Rumsfeld repeatedly deny there's any division in the administration on policy, saying they talk up to several times a day and meet often, but events over the last few days show on Iraq and in this election year, it's especially important that the message is coherent -- Lou.
DOBBS: And it also points out the message is not always coherent.
Kitty Pilgrim, thank you.
Vice President Dick Cheney canceled a campaign visit to Florida today because of Hurricane Jeanne. The hurricane left a massive trail of destruction across Florida. Nearly three million people tonight are without power, thousands of people are homeless, and essential supplies are in short supply.
Sara Dorsey reports from Stuart, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hurricane Jeanne pummeled Florida's eastern coast for just a few hours, but it will take months for residents to recover. To make things worse, the storm took nearly the same path as Hurricane Frances did three weeks ago, making it hard to tell old damage from new.
EBELING: I was stunned. You know, I didn't think it would be that bad. Just seeing and looking all around us, the devastation and destruction is unimaginable. DORSEY: Today, Florida Governor Jeb Bush toured some of the hardest areas in the state. Emergency officials are digging in for what promises to be an extended relief effort.
MICHAEL BROWN, FEMA DIRECTOR: We will be here as long as it takes. We will spend whatever it takes, as we do in any state in any county in this country that gets devastated like this. So we're here for the long haul.
DORSEY: Floridians have now weathered four major hurricanes this season and won't forget what they've been through anytime soon.
JACK SCHLUCKEBIER, MELBOURNE CITY MANAGER: We had nearly 7,000 people in shelters. One of our great stories during the storm was that a roof caved in on one of them, and we actually had to evacuate 350 special needs people in the middle of a hurricane, and that was quite an undertaking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY: Another large undertaking will be cleaning up these homes. Many people still have standing water and mold growing on the walls.
We're live in Stuart, Florida. Sara Dorsey.
Now back to you -- Lou.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Sara.
When we continue here, the head of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program will be here. He's issued a chilling warning about the spread of nuclear technology throughout the world. Mahdi Obeidi is my guest, coming up next.
Battlefield Iraq: U.S. forces bombing insurgent positions enter Baghdad while insurgents are killing more American troops and Iraqi National Guardsmen. We'll have the story and be joined by Middle East expert Fouad Ajami.
And then, a volcanic warning on Mount Saint Helen. Scientists say they haven't seen this much seismic activity since the deadly eruption 20 years ago.
That and a great deal more, including your thoughts, still ahead here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: My guest tonight was the mastermind of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program. Mahdi Obeidi famously buried Iraq's nuclear secrets and components in his Baghdad backyard to hide them from U.N. weapons inspectors. He later turned them over to U.S. officials shortly after the Iraqi invasion.
Now Obeidi has written a fascinating book about his experience and the new threat of nuclear weapons around the globe. The book is entitled "The Bomb in My Garden: The Secrets of Saddam's Nuclear Mastermind." Mahdi Obeidi joins me now.
Good to have you with us.
MAHDI OBEIDI, AUTHOR, "THE BOMB IN MY GARDEN: THE SECRETS OF SADDAM'S NUCLEAR MASTERMIND": Thank you.
DOBBS: A fascinating account, first of all, of years and years of deception. The sense that one gets in listening -- reading your thoughts is that Saddam Hussein could have actually gotten away with this had it not been from the Gulf War.
OBEIDI: True indeed because we started with our centrifuge program in '87 in August. In 1990, we started to work with a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) atomic bomb using the Iraqi reactor fuel. And I think that had it not been for the first Gulf War, it would -- I mean, the path was almost certain that we would have gotten a first bomb, and I think after that would have gotten tons of bombs.
DOBBS: And if the Israelis had not bombed -- attacked the Osirak reactor plant, if the reactor hadn't gone critical at that point, hadn't been installed, but had it been, you would have the bomb, Iraq would have the bomb, Saddam would have the bomb at that point.
OBEIDI: It would have been a different course. I mean, Iraq would have gone through the plutonium course. So it would have been different. Here, we went through the enrichment of uranium course.
DOBBS: And the enrichment of uranium is on the minds of all who are concerned about nuclear proliferation. You point out and you state in absolute clear straightforward terms Saddam did not have the capacity to create a nuclear bomb nor did he have a nuclear weapon of mass destruction in your book.
What, in your best judgment, though, are the odds he could have in a reasonable period of time without U.N. weapons inspectors, without the U.S. coalition invasion of Iraq, procured them?
OBEIDI: Well, really, without all of this, I'm saying that within three years, he was on the threshold of starting the first (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bomb. Now you can be sure that Iraq -- the time would have been definitely shortened for the centrifuge process, and also -- it would have also been shortened for making a bomb. So his time span would have definitely been not so long.
DOBBS: I don't know if this was your intent or not in the book, but you make it clear that you, your colleagues were highly effective in disguising all sorts of documents and operations from the U.N. weapons inspectors. Have you consulted with the United Nations since to -- and with the International Association of -- Atomic Energy Association to -- Agency to tell them what they should be doing.
OBEIDI: Actually, after the year 2002 when the inspectors came in, they came in asking the same questions which they have asked in the past, and we have answered them the same answers which we used to answer them in the past, nothing new in our -- in their questions and in our answers because for the same old story.
DOBBS: You also put forward in, frankly, chilling terms the prospect of what could still be in Iraq, given the insurgency, the terrorism, and that is the amount of intellectual capital that still resides principally in Baghdad, that could be used to create a nuclear weapon.
OBEIDI: And that's why I'm quite concerned about the fate of the scientists. I think they should be well treated. They should be given good jobs, and they should be looked after, and even some of them could be temporarily brought into the West, into the United States, for some jobs, and that's useful for them.
DOBBS: You have obviously shared this thought with the U.S. government. What is their reaction?
OBEIDI: Well, I don't -- I don't share these ideas with the U.S. government. I mean, this -- my first idea was written in "The New York Times" as an op-ed piece, and I have put it in my book as well.
DOBBS: And no one from the United States government has talked to you to gain further insight of further thinking about what should be done?
OBEIDI: No, sir.
DOBBS: One -- we're nearly out of time here, Mahdi Obeidi, but I want to ask you obviously the threat now and the potential for conflict is great with Iran over precisely the same issue, that is the processing of enriched uranium, the creation of potentially a weapon. What do you think is the wisest course?
OBEIDI: Well, I think I am calling for a course that is really wider than just looking into any one country. I'm looking for a course to really look into the reasons why weapons are being made, and the -- one of the causes which I have seen was fear. I want to see the day where we look for that leaders would not be afraid of their people, that the people would not be afraid of their leaders, and that nations would not be afraid of other nations, and I think this would be a start.
DOBBS: A perfect world here you describe and chilling potential as well. We thank you very much, Mahdi Obeidi.
OBEIDI: I thank you.
DOBBS: The book is "The Bomb in My Garden."
Still ahead here tonight, a bloody day in Iraq. U.S. and Iraq forces fighting new battles with insurgents across the country. Middle East expert Fouad Ajami will be joining me next.
And then, an urgent warning about Mount St. Helens. Scientists say the killer volcano is now rumbling and could be ready for something big. Those stories and a great deal more are still ahead here, including most especially your thoughts about the issues of the day. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: LOU DOBBS TONIGHT continues. Here now for more news, debate and opinion, Lou Dobbs.
President Bush insists U.S. policy in Iraq is still on track despite the escalating violence and rising number of American casualties. Today, another two American soldiers were killed in Iraq.
American troops also fought new battles with insurgents in eastern Baghdad. Troops called in air strikes to destroy insurgent positions.
Elsewhere in Iraq, insurgents launched a series of bomb attacks against the Iraqi National Guard. Eight Iraqi National Guardsmen were killed in those attacks.
Fouad Ajami is one of this country's foremost experts on the Middle East, on Iraq and radical Islamic terrorism. He's professor of Middle Eastern studies at Johns Hopkins University and joins me here tonight.
Good to have you here.
AJAMI: Thank you, Lou. Thank you.
DOBBS: Professor, this is now the focal point of these two campaigns.
AJAMI: Yes.
DOBBS: President Bush saying that the policies are working. Senator Kerry saying that it is a fantasy. Which, in your judgment, is accurate?
AJAMI: Well, I think we finally will have the debate on Iraq we should have had before the war. This is the irony and the tragedy of this debate. We're having a debate about Iraq and the burdens in Iraq while we are deep into Iraq, and, in truth, neither Bush nor Kerry really has a pretty option after -- when we come down to it.
So we're having this debate, and the costs of the war are clear to us, and the stakes have risen and we know what they are. And come November 3 or 4, whoever wins will face some really stark and hard choices in Iraq.
DOBBS: Those hard choices are?
AJAMI: Well, I think what we are going to do -- I mean, this is my own sense of what will happen after November 2 -- we are going to take on the insurgents after the elections. We will go and bust up Fallujah. We have to do so. We have to go into the Sunni triangle. And if I were to make a daring prediction, the choice will come and the decision -- the American decisions to come and to face up the insurgency will come after November 15. The election will -- our election will be over, Ramadan will be over, the Muslim holy month, and the Iraqi elections in January will be upon the horizon, and then it will be time to make some really critical choices.
We can't make any choices now. We can't make any...
DOBBS: Why not?
AJAMI: Because the election is what it is.
DOBBS: But elections are supposed to be about these issues. Elections are supposed to be about the real issues, not the nonsense...
AJAMI: Well, you're right.
DOBBS: ... that overwhelms us so often here, or we permit to overwhelm us.
AJAMI: Well, they're never really are. I mean, I don't think -- I think either candidate -- I don't think President Bush really wants to escalate this war because he's telling us it's working, it's working well, and, in truth, we know it's very difficult. I mean, I think our top -- our man in Iraq who's training the Iraqi forces has a wonderful...
DOBBS: General Petraeus.
AJAMI: General David Petraeus has a wonderful metaphor for it. He says, look, our task in Iraq very complicated. It's like trying to repair aircraft in mid-flight while you're being fired upon. We are being fired upon by the insurgents.
I think the insurgents are also determined, and this I believe in -- they're determined to cauterize President Bush. They want to do to him -- they want to do to George W. Bush what the Iranians did to Jimmy Carter in 1979, 1980 with the hostage crisis. They want a role in our elections, they are voting in our elections, and this really is part of what the fury of the insurgents is about.
DOBBS: The insurgency -- and by insurgency, do you mean principally the al Qaeda? Do you mean the Shia? Do you mean the Sunni?
AJAMI: Right.
DOBBS: Within Iraq, there is -- it is a multiheaded monster.
AJAMI: Exactly. It's a good question. I think fundamentally we've defeated the Mehdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr. The Shia insurgency has been turned back. Now we...
DOBBS: Even though we're bombing al-Sadr City today? AJAMI: It doesn't matter. Fundamentally, Muqtada al-Sadr has been broken. He's been broken by a combination, politically and militarily by the Americans, religiously by Ali al-Sistani. We now remain in the Sunni triangle, and there it's emerging, if you will. It's emerging of the jihadists.
The Arabs who have come to Fallujah and many Fallujahans, by the way, now tell us they feel like that they are an occupied city, that the jihadists who came from Syria, who came from Lebanon, who came from Saudi Arabia now have the run of the place, and the local Fallujahans are beginning to plea bargain for a deal with the Americans and a deal with the interim government.
DOBBS: The same people who tried to do a deal with Muqtada al- Sadr?
AJAMI: Well, no. These people are very different because these people are -- they have an animus toward the jihad. This is really the Sunni jihadists. These are the Arab jihadists who have come and nested in the Sunni triangle and now have brought death and mayhem to the Sunni triangle.
DOBBS: But they have -- the commander of the Iraqi Army who ostensibly was making deals with -- at least at the margin with Muqtada al-Sadr, making deals in Fallujah. Who is representing the Iraqi armed forces?
AJAMI: Well, I think we don't know because, in fact, we know that when you bring -- when you pick these local commanders, you run all kinds of risks -- Lou. We know that. You run risk that you are dealing with corrupt people, you run risk that you are dealing with former Baathists who are striking deals with the insurgents.
DOBBS: Senator Kerry says that he will have a broader coalition, that he will bring in others to work in Iraq. In point of fact, "Financial Times" reports today that neither Germany nor France would participate in such an idea. So he would be in the same position as George W. Bush at the outset at least.
Is there in any one of the statements by either presidential candidate a solution here? Is there is an exit strategy for U.S. involvement? What is the reality?
AJAMI: Well, Senator Kerry -- we have an Arabic saying when someone says something impossible. We say from his mouth to the gates of heaven. He will find nothing. He will find no relief in Germany and no relief in France. He will find no troops at the United Nations that will ride to the rescue. No cavalry from anywhere in the world will ride to the rescue.
The only rescue, the only exit we have are these 250,000 Iraqi soldiers and border guards, that they will be Iraqi nationalists, that they will stand up and fight for their country, and they will relieve the burden of these young men and women from Kansas and Vermont and Indiana who are dying in a foreign and hostile land. There is no other -- there is no relief for us. There is no relief. No Arab relief. No Muslim relief. No European relief. No U.N. relief. No one shall come to our rescue. It is only the Iraqis. The Iraqis, if they are genuinely Iraqi patriots who will take from us the burden of the defense of their country.
DOBBS: And President Bush? He's being disingenuous when he says everything is going swimmingly?
AJAMI: Well, he's a candidate for office. And he knows in fact that all our good choices were at the front end, they're not available at the back end. He knows that he underestimated, or as he said, miscalculated, of what was to be found in Iraq. So we are there.
DOBBS: Fouad Ajami, as always, good to have you here. We appreciate your insight.
Turning now to tonight's poll. The question on the upcoming presidential election, "which has the greatest influence on your vote? The conventions, the debates, or political advertisements?
Cast your vote at CNN.com/lou. We'll have the results later here in the broadcast.
Taking a look now at some of your thoughts.
Marti McKown of San Luis Obispo, California. "Dear Lou, let me see if I got this straight. We outsource our jobs to Mexico, have three million illegal aliens coming across our borders trying to get the low paying jobs that were not outsourced to Mexico, and we want to give them amnesty, education, Social Security, and health insurance, none of which we can get or afford because we lost our jobs to outsourcing?"
A fairly good capsule, I think.
Darren in Flagstaff, Arizona. "Perhaps Cat Stevens should have tried to get into the United States by sneaking across the border from Mexico."
And Stan Sulewski of Hohenwald, Tennessee. "After U.S. companies chose to move equipment, technology, and our jobs to China, they whine about Chinese knock-off products?"
We love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts at loudobbs@CNN.com. Please send your name and address. Each of you whose e-mail is read on the broadcast receives a new copy of my new book, "Exporting America."
Seismologists are closely monitoring Mount St. Helens tonight after a large number of earthquakes were recorded there three days ago. The largest number of earthquakes yesterday in 18 years in fact. The Forest Services has closed hiking areas near the volcano's crater and some of the surrounding areas. Nicole Doll from our affiliate KGW reports from the U.S.G.S. Volcanic Observatory in Vancouver.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICOLE DOLL, KGW CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Geophysicist Mike Polland (ph) in 1980...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's five.
DOLL: The kindergartner more acquainted with Seuss than Seismic but when Mount St. Helens erupted...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember Mount St. Helens erupting and talking about it in school and so forth and I remember that's probably why I got real interested in volcanoes.
DOLL: Now the 28-year-old scientist will spend Monday afternoon on the volcano's lava dome, one of several U.S. geological survey scientists collecting data on the mountain's unexpected earthquakes.
SETH MORAN, SEISMOLOGIST, USGS: To see if there is any evidence of magna bulging up on parts of the dome or the crater walls. Also going out to look for any sign that there might be magmatic gases coming out of the lava dome.
DOLL: Like clockwork, every minute or so, the needle dances. Since late last week, the quakes were tiny at first but yesterday scientists measured 12 to 15 at a magnitude two or greater.
And the swarms of quakes are getting stronger. This is the latest record from the size of a graph inside the lava dome. The ink represents a quake. You can see that it's bleeding through the paper and nearly ripping it apart.
MORAN: There's probably nothing larger than a 1.5. Still ticking along.
DOLL: How is this different than 1980? The earthquakes that heralded the eruption were more frequent and much bigger. Magnitude threes and fours. Scientists suspect this time the building pressure could cause a small explosion. For Mike Polland, a boy's memory now a scientist adventure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel more like I'm visiting a place that, that's really part of volcano history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: That was Nicole Doll of affiliate KGW reporting.
The May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens volcano eruption blew a 5,000- foot hole in the top of the mountain. That blast flattened 150 square miles of surrounding forests, 57 people were killed. It was the biggest blast in a series of eruptions on Mount St. Helens from March to June in 1980. Volcanic ash and debris from those eruptions fell over 12,000 square miles of the Pacific northwest including the states of Portland, Oregon, and as well, Vancouver, Washington. The damage was estimated at 3 billion. On Wednesday, an asteroid named Toutatis will come within 960,000 miles of our planet. Astronomers say this will be the largest asteroid to pass this close to earth until the end -- end of this century. Toutatis is three miles long. It's 1 1/2 miles wide. Scientists say it is comprised of two to three space rocks held together by gravity, and it will pass this planet at 22,000 miles an hour. NASA says there is no risk of Toutatis to the earth, but if it did, its impact would be the equivalent of a blast of a million tons of TNT. In other words, we don't even want to think about it.
Coming up next, a warning tonight about the first presidential election in Florida since the debacle four years ago. Former president Jimmy Carter says there is still cause for great concern. That story is next.
And then, the candidates prepare for what will be a critical 90 minutes in this campaign. I'll be talking with three of the country's top political journalists about what they should be doing and what we should be expecting.
And celebrating the men and women who lead our young people to success on the field and in life. Tonight, our special series. We focus on America's coaches. That and a great deal more including more of your thoughts still ahead here tonight. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Tonight, former president Jimmy Carter is warning that the upcoming elections in the state of Florida could be more disastrous than the one four years ago. President Carter wrote an op- ed piece in the "Washington Post" saying, "basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in Florida." The former president says those requirements include uniform voting procedures and nonpartisan election officials. Carter says as a result a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely.
Separately, a federal court reopened a lawsuit challenging paperless electronic voting in Florida. The 11 U.S. circuit court of appeals ruled that a lower-court judge was wrong when he dismissed the lawsuit filed by Congressman Robert Wexler. Wexler's lawsuit claimed the paperless machines used in 15 of Florida's 67 counties make manual recounts impossible. The lower court had ruled paper records were not necessary. The case now goes to trial.
The presidential candidates today prepared for their first debate, three nights away. A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll finds President Bush will go into the debate with a clear significant lead over Senator Kerry. The national poll finds President Bush has a 52- 42 percent lead over the senator among likely voters. Registered voters favoring the president over Senator Kerry by 53-42 percent.
Joining me now to assess these numbers and a great deal more, three of the country's leading political journalists, Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent, "TIME" magazine; Ron Brownstein, national political correspondent, "L.A. Times"; Roger Simon, political editor of U.S. News & World Report" joining us tonight from Washington.
Karen, this lead, it is in insurmountable if indeed it is accurate?
KAREN TUMULTY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Not at all, and of course we've seen these polls jumping all over the place over the last -- well, basically since the Republican convention. So, and as we've talked about so many times on this show, this is -- the national poll numbers really don't give you a sense of what's going on in the individual states.
DOBBS: Turning to Ron, if I may, some of the interesting numbers in this include Bush being really even on the economy and Iraq, but when it comes to terrorism, he -- he's decidedly ahead of Senator Kerry. Is that going to be a turning point in this campaign in your judgment?
RON BROWNSTEIN, L.A. TIMES: Well, very consistent finding Lou. Can I give kind of a yes. But to Karen, yes, the states can look different, but if the national lead is in the range that we've seen in these polls in the last few day, six to eight, pretty consistently in four to five polls that have come out since Friday, that would be enough to carry President Bush over the top in all the battleground states. If he can hold it.
Yes, Lou, to answer your question, the dynamic has been very consistent. President Bush's strongest rating are on terror. They've been rock solid for three years. On economy, generally the approval has been lower than it is in this poll. It's been kind of net negative, and Iraq has been kind of a tipping point, which striking which not only in this poll but the flurry of others in the last few day, the president's approval on Iraq is no better than even, often net negative, and yet when they asked to handle the issue going forward, most voters are picking him over Senator Kerry. That obviously frames the challenge for John Kerry in this week's debate.
DOBBS: Roger, do you concur with our colleagues?
ROGER SIMON, U.S NEWS AND WORLD REPORT: Yes, I do. I think the real challenge for Kerry is to decouple Iraq from terrorism. President Bush and the Republicans at their convention were very successful in portraying the war in Iraq as a war against terrorism. President Bush said in his press conference last week that if we don't fight the terrorist in Iraq, we'll be fighting them in America. Majority of the American public think that Iraq had something to do with the September 11 attack on the United States, which the experts have said are not true. And John Kerry must get this election about Iraq, not fighting the war on terrorism, and how well the war in Iraq and the occupation are being conducted too.
DOBBS: Well, we're going to have an opportunity to hear these two men join on the issue of Iraq and foreign policy Thursday evening.
Karen, do you expect anything here that is surprising or unique?
TUMULTY: You know, the capacity for surprises in this debate is extremely limited by the ground rules that the two sides agreed to. This is a 32-page document. It is -- you know, as much fine print as I think I've ever seen going into this. And what's interesting about it, as much as anything else, is the fact that there is going to be almost no opportunity either for the debate moderators to follow-up with questions, and absolutely no opportunity for true rebuttal. And as a result, what you're going to have is a real potential for these guys just sitting here and spouting a bunch of canned statements that then go unchallenged.
DOBBS: Do you believe that -- is this significantly different than previous debates in that regard?
TUMULTY: Well, I think that it's sort of a continuum, each debate seems to get more and more structured, more and more scripted. It's also interesting, too, that the candidates are not even so much as allowed to ask each other direct questions. Although, it does stipulate that the rhetorical questions are allowed.
Rhetorical questions, do you have any advice for the candidate, Ron, particularly Senator Kerry since he seems to be behind in the polls.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I don't be if I have any advice but in talking to each side, I can tell you what they are thinking. And obviously you can see some of in what they are saying in the days leading up to it. Clearly President Bush wants to focus on the argument that Senator Kerry cannot be trusted to handle Iraq. Arguing that he's changed his positions too many times. In effect, discounting the messenger so he doesn't have to get into the weeds of the message.
Senator Kerry's I think task is to focus more on how things are going in Iraq today and where we go from here. And not so much on the sort of interminable tangles he's been in on whether we were right to do it in the first place. They want a more forward-looking debate about where we go from here and whether in fact, as Roger said, that the war in Iraq has contributed or hurt our efforts in the war on terror.
DOBBS: And Roger, you just perhaps I think may have heard the John Hopkins professor Fouad Ajami, one of the country's leading experts in the Middle East, if I may condense his statement, Senator Kerry doesn't know what he is talking about when it comes to building a larger coalition, because as the "Financial Times" today reported, France and Germany aren't going to be in Iraq in any way in the future. And secondly, President Bush is simply at very best being pen glossy when talking about how well things are going in Iraq.
So what's -- where is the profit in that issue?
SIMON: It's a grim analysis you've just read us. That neither one of these two guys have the ability to get us out of Iraq, which I think a majority of the American people would like to see.
Kerry's problem -- Kerry has become very good, very strong, very adept at point out the mistakes that were made getting us into Iraq and the mistakes since then. Where he falls down or has failed yet to make his case, is what he would do to get us out of Iraq. What he would do to bring coalition partners in. And what he would do to speed that process. How in other words are his plans any different than those of George Bush's?
DOBBS: So do I correctly infer from the three of you we should all tune into these debates Thursday evening, because we are sure to be presented with great substance, great style, excitement, and even epiphany at various points is that a fair interpretation.
BROWNSTEIN: There's always drama, Lou. There's always something in these debates.
SIMON: Where there is life there is hope.
TUMULTY: And there is still an opportunity to make a mistake.
DOBBS: Well with that optimistic outlook, Karen, thank you very much. Ron, Roger, thank you all.
"Tonight's Thought" is on elections. The fact that a man is to vote, forces him to think. You may preach to a congregation by the year and not affected it's thought because it's not called upon for definite action. But throw your subject into a campaign and it becomes a challenge. The words of American author John J. Chapman.
Remind now to vote in our poll. Which will have the greatest influence on your vote, the conventions, debates, or political advertisement. Cast your vote at cnn.com/lou. We'll have the results later in the broadcast.
Coming right up, "America Works." Tonight we focus on coaches, as a matter of fact, all week long we do. Tonight, the story of a coach who makes America work. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: In "America Works," we look at some of the nation's brightest coaches and the impact they have on the lives of their young athletes. Tonight, the story of college track coach Damon Martin who has taken his team from a small school in the high plains of southern Colorado to success on a national stage.
Bill Tucker reports from Alamosa, Colorado.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON MARTIN, TRACK COACH: Success is a journey. It's not a destination. The moment you people start to think that you've reached where you're going to be successful you will be defeated and you will not be successful.
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Coach Damon Martin is the head of the men's and women's track teams in Adams State College in the small southern Colorado town of Alamosa. Since assuming the head coaching job in 1989, his athletes have earned 445 All-American honors, 51 individual championships, and 15 national championships.
Last year, his men's and women's cross-country teams swept the national championships. His philosophy is very simple.
MARTIN: I don't care if it's an easy day, hard day, you have to focus. You have to become mesmerized by the activity that you're doing. And in your cases, it's running.
TUCKER (on camera): As impressive as the team achievements are on the track, this spring, two-thirds of coach Martin's athletes were named to the athletic director's honor's list. Meaning that they had grade point averages of 3.0 or higher, five had perfect 4.0s.
(voice-over): There are no full-ride scholarships here, no promise of millions of dollars and draft to seduce them, but there are expectations.
MARTIN: I expect greatness from you people. And I expect to teach you to expect it from each other.
TUCKER: And those expectations yield results.
CARL BLACKHURST, GRADUATE ASSISTANT COACH: I walked on as a freshman, and when I graduated, I had seven all-Americans. So for somebody who wasn't supposed to run in college, I was pretty pleased with that, you know.
ZOILA GOMEZ, ADAMS STATE DISTANCE RUNNER: One of the things that he always remarks impacts us is whenever you do something, you have to do something, not for yourself but for something greater than yourself. And I think just by having him set an example, most of the stuff I did, I did it for him.
TUCKER: The only school that recruited Zoila Gomez out of high school was Adams State. This year, she was named Division II female athlete of the year.
Bill Tucker, CNN, Alamosa, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: And turning now to more of your thoughts. Phyllis Rosino of Las Vegas, Nevada: "My bills are piling up. I cannot make a dent. I work 40 hours a week, and still can't pay my rent. The barest costs of living are going through the roof. The economy is at an all-time high. Do we really need more proof? Jobs are being outsourced at such an alarming rate. My neighbor has no job at all, with no prospects to date. So perhaps I should be thankful for the little I make. I dare to ask for a living wage, my job would be at stake."
Phyllis, thank you for the poem, and we're going to post that on our Web site for all of you who would like to take a look at it again.
We love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts and your poetry even, at loudobbs@cnn.com. Please send us your name and address. Each of you whose e-mail is read on the broadcast receives a free copy of my new book, "Exporting America."
Still ahead here, oil prices are soaring again, but not for the reasons you might think. We'll have that story. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Well, prices rose, stock prices fell. The Dow down 59 points. The Nasdaq down nearly 20. The S&P down 7.
Record high oil prices today. Christine Romans is here.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Again, add Nigeria and to hurricanes and Iraq, the newest factor driving up world oil prices. Crude is at the highest price on record. World supplies are already stretched, and now a rebel threat in Nigeria has sent prices sky high. Don't count on the loans from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to cool these prices. With U.S. supplies near the lowest in a generation, traders say simply useless.
Gasoline futures prices also rose again today, and prices at the pump rose a nickel in the past couple of weeks, $1.91 now on average.
DOBBS: More good news. The fact is that the outlying years, though, the prices are showing weakness.
ROMANS: You look out to 2009, you're talking about $33 a barrel crude. Some of the traders are saying maybe that's because high oil prices are going to have to slow growth and slow world demand for oil.
DOBBS: And the -- well, that's not exactly an optimistic outlook either.
ROMANS: No, that twisted ...
DOBBS: The UBS confidence -- investor confidence survey again coming up with some surprising new indications.
ROMANS: Well, investor confidence at a four-month low. This is what really surprised me. You got concern about outsourcing as the second most important reason investors are saying they're concerned. One, energy prices; two, outsourcing. That's before Iraq and terrorism.
DOBBS: And it's not the first month that this has occurred?
ROMANS: No, a couple of months in a row now you've had that way up there on the top of the list.
DOBBS: Number two, all right. Thank you very much, Christine Romans.
Well, still ahead here, we'll have the results of the poll and a preview of what's ahead. Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DOBBS: The results of our poll tonight. Eight percent of you say the conventions will have the greatest influence on your vote in November. Eighty-six percent say the debates; 6 percent political ads. Eighty-six percent. I guess most of those people will be tuned in Thursday evening.
Thanks for being with us here. Please join us tomorrow. Astrophysicist Neil Tyson joins us to reveal startling new evidence about the beginning of the universe. And author Victor Davis Hanson will be here. He says the United Nations is not beneficial and is increasingly hostile to freedom. He's my guest, as is Fernando Mateo, of Hispanics Across America. Mateo wants to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. He'll be our guest. Please be with us.
For all of us here, good night from New York. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" is coming up next.
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Aired September 27, 2004 - 18:00 ET
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LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, is the Bush administration divided over the future of Iraq? Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell offer different views on the direction of Iraq. We'll have a special report.
President Bush and Senator Kerry today sharply escalated their attacks on each other, just days before the first presidential debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN F. KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we don't need are all these phony 30-second, 60-second, trumped-up, special- interest advertisements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He probably could spend 90 minutes debating himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: One of this country's leading experts on the Middle East and Iraq, Professor Fouad Ajami, says America is on its own in Iraq. Professor Ajami is my guest.
Mahdi Obeidi joins me as well, the mastermind of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program and author of "The Bomb in My Garden."
Nearly three million people are without power tonight in Florida. Thousands of people are homeless. Floridians are struggling to recover from the terrible destruction of Hurricane Jeanne.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB EBELING, HURRICANE VICTIM: The devastation and destruction is unimaginable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: And a dramatic warning tonight about Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington State. Seismologists say there could be an eruption and soon. We'll have a special report.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Monday September 27. Here now for an hour of news, debate and opinion is Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening.
Tonight, the first presidential debate is only three days away, and both President Bush and Senator Kerry launched a new wave of attacks against each other's Iraq policies.
President Bush said Senator Kerry has so many positions on Iraq that Senator Kerry could spend 90 minutes debating himself. For his part, Senator Kerry said the president is trying to hide the true facts on Iraq from voters.
We'll have a report on the Kerry campaign, but first, Elaine Quijano reports on the Bush campaign from Westchester, Ohio -- Elaine?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, fresh off of a weekend of debate preparations at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, President Bush did launch more attacks against his Democratic opponent, Senator John Kerry, over the issue of Iraq.
Now the president's comments coming at two campaign rallies. The first stop, a focus on education event in Springfield, Ohio. Then here again in Westchester just a short time ago.
By the way, Bush campaign officials say this rally in Westchester was the largest in GOP history: 44,000 tickets distributed. More than 50,000 people turned out, according to the Bush campaign.
But here in Westchester, the president blasted Senator Kerry for having what Mr. Bush said was an inconsistent position on Iraq. The president saying, "You cannot lead if you don't know where you stand."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: It's been a little tough to prepare for the debates because he keeps changing his positions.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: Especially on the war. I mean, after all, he voted for the use of force, but against funding the troops. He said that we're not spending enough money to reconstruct Iraq, yet now says we're spending too much. He said it was the right decision to go into Iraq. Yet now he calls it the wrong war. I think he can spend 90 minutes debating himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now the Bush campaign today releasing new a television ad trying to reinforce that image of John Kerry as a flip-flopper as the president continues campaigning, but the Kerry camp says that the ad takes Senator Kerry's statements out of context.
Meantime, the president now is headed back to his ranch in Crawford Texas, for more debate preparations. White House Communication Director Dan Bartlett says the president is bracing for a series of attacks by John Kerry, but that the president is very comfortable with the pace of his preparations, and now he says it is a matter of fine-tuning -- Lou.
DOBBS: Elaine Quijano.
Thank you very much.
Senator Kerry today blasted President Bush for saying he has no regrets about declaring the end of major combat in Iraq 18 months ago. Senator Kerry said President Bush has failed to accomplish his mission in Iraq, and Senator Kerry said the president knows it.
Frank Buckley reports from Dodgeville, Wisconsin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator John Kerry broke from debate prep to campaign. Kerry returning to his now familiar theme of criticizing President Bush on a central topic for Thursday's debate -- Iran. This time, Kerry invoked the image President Bush aboard the "USS Abraham Lincoln" under a banner reading "Mission Accomplished."
KERRY: The mission was not accomplished when he said it. He didn't know it and didn't understand it. It's not accomplished today, and he's still trying to hide from the American people.
BUCKLEY: Kerry aides say the continuing critique of President Bush on Iraq helps Kerry make the case that President Bush can't fix problems if he doesn't acknowledge them, an argument they can also apply to domestic issues, like the economy.
KERRY: Income's going down, and he just doesn't care. He's out of touch with the average American's problems because he keeps fighting for Halliburton and Enron and all those big companies, and we need a president who fights for the average person.
BUCKLEY: But Kerry continues to face criticism himself. A new Bush campaign ad using Kerry's own words to try to portray him as inconsistent on Iraq, and, following Kerry's town hall event in Wisconsin, he was criticized by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani who made an appearance in the same city.
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: President Bush is very plain-speaking, he's very straight, he knows his positions, and he doesn't change them.
BUCKLEY: Kerry says he has been consistent on Iraq.
KERRY: I've had one position steady all the way, folks, that I thought we ought to stand up and hold Saddam Hussein accountable, but I thought we ought to do it the right way, and doing it the right way means having the patience and the maturity to bring allies to our side.
BUCKLEY: Aides to Senator Kerry say he is preparing for Thursday's debate with mock debate sessions here in Wisconsin. Playing the role of moderator Jim Lehrer, his political adviser Bob Shrum. Playing the role of President Bush is Greg Craig, a former Clinton administration official. On Wednesday, Senator Kerry flies to Florida on the eve of the real thing.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Dodgeville, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Senator Edward Kennedy also launched an all-out attack on the Bush administration policy in Iraq today. In a speech at George Washington University Senator Kennedy said the administration's policies have fueled the insurgency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The president's handling of the war has been a toxic mix of ignorance, arrogance and stubborn ideology. No amount of presidential rhetoric or preposterous campaign spin can conceal the truth about the steady downward spiral in our national security since President Bush made the decision to go to war in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Senator Kennedy said that American troops in Iraq are bogged down in a quagmire, as he put it, and he says there is no end in sight.
There also appears to be a growing debate within the Bush administration about American goals in Iraq. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says Iraqi elections in January may not be held in the entire country because of the escalating insurgency. But Secretary of State Colin Powell insists the elections will be held across the whole of Iraq.
Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Secretary of State Colin Powell has come out strongly for Iraqi elections with full participation by all Iraqis.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Look, we have to keep shooting for it, and what is achievable is to give everybody the opportunity to vote in the upcoming election, to make the election fully credible.
PILGRIM: But Donald Rumsfeld's statement last week suggested a partial vote would be acceptable.
RUMSFELD: And let's say you tried to have an election, and you could have it in three-quarters or four-fifths of the country, but some places you couldn't because the violence was too great. Well, that's -- so be it. Nothing's perfect in life. So you have an election that's not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet."
PILGRIM: Today, a diplomatic scramble to reconcile the two views.
ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I don't think you should read into different phrasings of the same idea differences of opinion or differences of assessment.
PILGRIM: It's not the first time the defense secretary and the secretary of state appeared to be at odds. Both have iconic presence but vastly different styles. It is often noted in the press and, on occasion, those differences can muddle the message.
For example, in 2001, on the issue of China, when Powell pointedly characterized China as a, quote, "friend" rather than a, quote, "strategic competitor," Rumsfeld flew 'round the world to stand with him in Australia to dispel the differences.
Powell's return to the talk-show circuit may have to do with the election cycle. Powell's recent popularity ratings make him an asset in the presidential campaign. A "TIME" magazine poll found 74 percent of people approve of the job Powell is doing versus 39 percent for Rumsfeld.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now both Powell and Rumsfeld repeatedly deny there's any division in the administration on policy, saying they talk up to several times a day and meet often, but events over the last few days show on Iraq and in this election year, it's especially important that the message is coherent -- Lou.
DOBBS: And it also points out the message is not always coherent.
Kitty Pilgrim, thank you.
Vice President Dick Cheney canceled a campaign visit to Florida today because of Hurricane Jeanne. The hurricane left a massive trail of destruction across Florida. Nearly three million people tonight are without power, thousands of people are homeless, and essential supplies are in short supply.
Sara Dorsey reports from Stuart, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hurricane Jeanne pummeled Florida's eastern coast for just a few hours, but it will take months for residents to recover. To make things worse, the storm took nearly the same path as Hurricane Frances did three weeks ago, making it hard to tell old damage from new.
EBELING: I was stunned. You know, I didn't think it would be that bad. Just seeing and looking all around us, the devastation and destruction is unimaginable. DORSEY: Today, Florida Governor Jeb Bush toured some of the hardest areas in the state. Emergency officials are digging in for what promises to be an extended relief effort.
MICHAEL BROWN, FEMA DIRECTOR: We will be here as long as it takes. We will spend whatever it takes, as we do in any state in any county in this country that gets devastated like this. So we're here for the long haul.
DORSEY: Floridians have now weathered four major hurricanes this season and won't forget what they've been through anytime soon.
JACK SCHLUCKEBIER, MELBOURNE CITY MANAGER: We had nearly 7,000 people in shelters. One of our great stories during the storm was that a roof caved in on one of them, and we actually had to evacuate 350 special needs people in the middle of a hurricane, and that was quite an undertaking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY: Another large undertaking will be cleaning up these homes. Many people still have standing water and mold growing on the walls.
We're live in Stuart, Florida. Sara Dorsey.
Now back to you -- Lou.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Sara.
When we continue here, the head of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program will be here. He's issued a chilling warning about the spread of nuclear technology throughout the world. Mahdi Obeidi is my guest, coming up next.
Battlefield Iraq: U.S. forces bombing insurgent positions enter Baghdad while insurgents are killing more American troops and Iraqi National Guardsmen. We'll have the story and be joined by Middle East expert Fouad Ajami.
And then, a volcanic warning on Mount Saint Helen. Scientists say they haven't seen this much seismic activity since the deadly eruption 20 years ago.
That and a great deal more, including your thoughts, still ahead here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: My guest tonight was the mastermind of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program. Mahdi Obeidi famously buried Iraq's nuclear secrets and components in his Baghdad backyard to hide them from U.N. weapons inspectors. He later turned them over to U.S. officials shortly after the Iraqi invasion.
Now Obeidi has written a fascinating book about his experience and the new threat of nuclear weapons around the globe. The book is entitled "The Bomb in My Garden: The Secrets of Saddam's Nuclear Mastermind." Mahdi Obeidi joins me now.
Good to have you with us.
MAHDI OBEIDI, AUTHOR, "THE BOMB IN MY GARDEN: THE SECRETS OF SADDAM'S NUCLEAR MASTERMIND": Thank you.
DOBBS: A fascinating account, first of all, of years and years of deception. The sense that one gets in listening -- reading your thoughts is that Saddam Hussein could have actually gotten away with this had it not been from the Gulf War.
OBEIDI: True indeed because we started with our centrifuge program in '87 in August. In 1990, we started to work with a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) atomic bomb using the Iraqi reactor fuel. And I think that had it not been for the first Gulf War, it would -- I mean, the path was almost certain that we would have gotten a first bomb, and I think after that would have gotten tons of bombs.
DOBBS: And if the Israelis had not bombed -- attacked the Osirak reactor plant, if the reactor hadn't gone critical at that point, hadn't been installed, but had it been, you would have the bomb, Iraq would have the bomb, Saddam would have the bomb at that point.
OBEIDI: It would have been a different course. I mean, Iraq would have gone through the plutonium course. So it would have been different. Here, we went through the enrichment of uranium course.
DOBBS: And the enrichment of uranium is on the minds of all who are concerned about nuclear proliferation. You point out and you state in absolute clear straightforward terms Saddam did not have the capacity to create a nuclear bomb nor did he have a nuclear weapon of mass destruction in your book.
What, in your best judgment, though, are the odds he could have in a reasonable period of time without U.N. weapons inspectors, without the U.S. coalition invasion of Iraq, procured them?
OBEIDI: Well, really, without all of this, I'm saying that within three years, he was on the threshold of starting the first (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bomb. Now you can be sure that Iraq -- the time would have been definitely shortened for the centrifuge process, and also -- it would have also been shortened for making a bomb. So his time span would have definitely been not so long.
DOBBS: I don't know if this was your intent or not in the book, but you make it clear that you, your colleagues were highly effective in disguising all sorts of documents and operations from the U.N. weapons inspectors. Have you consulted with the United Nations since to -- and with the International Association of -- Atomic Energy Association to -- Agency to tell them what they should be doing.
OBEIDI: Actually, after the year 2002 when the inspectors came in, they came in asking the same questions which they have asked in the past, and we have answered them the same answers which we used to answer them in the past, nothing new in our -- in their questions and in our answers because for the same old story.
DOBBS: You also put forward in, frankly, chilling terms the prospect of what could still be in Iraq, given the insurgency, the terrorism, and that is the amount of intellectual capital that still resides principally in Baghdad, that could be used to create a nuclear weapon.
OBEIDI: And that's why I'm quite concerned about the fate of the scientists. I think they should be well treated. They should be given good jobs, and they should be looked after, and even some of them could be temporarily brought into the West, into the United States, for some jobs, and that's useful for them.
DOBBS: You have obviously shared this thought with the U.S. government. What is their reaction?
OBEIDI: Well, I don't -- I don't share these ideas with the U.S. government. I mean, this -- my first idea was written in "The New York Times" as an op-ed piece, and I have put it in my book as well.
DOBBS: And no one from the United States government has talked to you to gain further insight of further thinking about what should be done?
OBEIDI: No, sir.
DOBBS: One -- we're nearly out of time here, Mahdi Obeidi, but I want to ask you obviously the threat now and the potential for conflict is great with Iran over precisely the same issue, that is the processing of enriched uranium, the creation of potentially a weapon. What do you think is the wisest course?
OBEIDI: Well, I think I am calling for a course that is really wider than just looking into any one country. I'm looking for a course to really look into the reasons why weapons are being made, and the -- one of the causes which I have seen was fear. I want to see the day where we look for that leaders would not be afraid of their people, that the people would not be afraid of their leaders, and that nations would not be afraid of other nations, and I think this would be a start.
DOBBS: A perfect world here you describe and chilling potential as well. We thank you very much, Mahdi Obeidi.
OBEIDI: I thank you.
DOBBS: The book is "The Bomb in My Garden."
Still ahead here tonight, a bloody day in Iraq. U.S. and Iraq forces fighting new battles with insurgents across the country. Middle East expert Fouad Ajami will be joining me next.
And then, an urgent warning about Mount St. Helens. Scientists say the killer volcano is now rumbling and could be ready for something big. Those stories and a great deal more are still ahead here, including most especially your thoughts about the issues of the day. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: LOU DOBBS TONIGHT continues. Here now for more news, debate and opinion, Lou Dobbs.
President Bush insists U.S. policy in Iraq is still on track despite the escalating violence and rising number of American casualties. Today, another two American soldiers were killed in Iraq.
American troops also fought new battles with insurgents in eastern Baghdad. Troops called in air strikes to destroy insurgent positions.
Elsewhere in Iraq, insurgents launched a series of bomb attacks against the Iraqi National Guard. Eight Iraqi National Guardsmen were killed in those attacks.
Fouad Ajami is one of this country's foremost experts on the Middle East, on Iraq and radical Islamic terrorism. He's professor of Middle Eastern studies at Johns Hopkins University and joins me here tonight.
Good to have you here.
AJAMI: Thank you, Lou. Thank you.
DOBBS: Professor, this is now the focal point of these two campaigns.
AJAMI: Yes.
DOBBS: President Bush saying that the policies are working. Senator Kerry saying that it is a fantasy. Which, in your judgment, is accurate?
AJAMI: Well, I think we finally will have the debate on Iraq we should have had before the war. This is the irony and the tragedy of this debate. We're having a debate about Iraq and the burdens in Iraq while we are deep into Iraq, and, in truth, neither Bush nor Kerry really has a pretty option after -- when we come down to it.
So we're having this debate, and the costs of the war are clear to us, and the stakes have risen and we know what they are. And come November 3 or 4, whoever wins will face some really stark and hard choices in Iraq.
DOBBS: Those hard choices are?
AJAMI: Well, I think what we are going to do -- I mean, this is my own sense of what will happen after November 2 -- we are going to take on the insurgents after the elections. We will go and bust up Fallujah. We have to do so. We have to go into the Sunni triangle. And if I were to make a daring prediction, the choice will come and the decision -- the American decisions to come and to face up the insurgency will come after November 15. The election will -- our election will be over, Ramadan will be over, the Muslim holy month, and the Iraqi elections in January will be upon the horizon, and then it will be time to make some really critical choices.
We can't make any choices now. We can't make any...
DOBBS: Why not?
AJAMI: Because the election is what it is.
DOBBS: But elections are supposed to be about these issues. Elections are supposed to be about the real issues, not the nonsense...
AJAMI: Well, you're right.
DOBBS: ... that overwhelms us so often here, or we permit to overwhelm us.
AJAMI: Well, they're never really are. I mean, I don't think -- I think either candidate -- I don't think President Bush really wants to escalate this war because he's telling us it's working, it's working well, and, in truth, we know it's very difficult. I mean, I think our top -- our man in Iraq who's training the Iraqi forces has a wonderful...
DOBBS: General Petraeus.
AJAMI: General David Petraeus has a wonderful metaphor for it. He says, look, our task in Iraq very complicated. It's like trying to repair aircraft in mid-flight while you're being fired upon. We are being fired upon by the insurgents.
I think the insurgents are also determined, and this I believe in -- they're determined to cauterize President Bush. They want to do to him -- they want to do to George W. Bush what the Iranians did to Jimmy Carter in 1979, 1980 with the hostage crisis. They want a role in our elections, they are voting in our elections, and this really is part of what the fury of the insurgents is about.
DOBBS: The insurgency -- and by insurgency, do you mean principally the al Qaeda? Do you mean the Shia? Do you mean the Sunni?
AJAMI: Right.
DOBBS: Within Iraq, there is -- it is a multiheaded monster.
AJAMI: Exactly. It's a good question. I think fundamentally we've defeated the Mehdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr. The Shia insurgency has been turned back. Now we...
DOBBS: Even though we're bombing al-Sadr City today? AJAMI: It doesn't matter. Fundamentally, Muqtada al-Sadr has been broken. He's been broken by a combination, politically and militarily by the Americans, religiously by Ali al-Sistani. We now remain in the Sunni triangle, and there it's emerging, if you will. It's emerging of the jihadists.
The Arabs who have come to Fallujah and many Fallujahans, by the way, now tell us they feel like that they are an occupied city, that the jihadists who came from Syria, who came from Lebanon, who came from Saudi Arabia now have the run of the place, and the local Fallujahans are beginning to plea bargain for a deal with the Americans and a deal with the interim government.
DOBBS: The same people who tried to do a deal with Muqtada al- Sadr?
AJAMI: Well, no. These people are very different because these people are -- they have an animus toward the jihad. This is really the Sunni jihadists. These are the Arab jihadists who have come and nested in the Sunni triangle and now have brought death and mayhem to the Sunni triangle.
DOBBS: But they have -- the commander of the Iraqi Army who ostensibly was making deals with -- at least at the margin with Muqtada al-Sadr, making deals in Fallujah. Who is representing the Iraqi armed forces?
AJAMI: Well, I think we don't know because, in fact, we know that when you bring -- when you pick these local commanders, you run all kinds of risks -- Lou. We know that. You run risk that you are dealing with corrupt people, you run risk that you are dealing with former Baathists who are striking deals with the insurgents.
DOBBS: Senator Kerry says that he will have a broader coalition, that he will bring in others to work in Iraq. In point of fact, "Financial Times" reports today that neither Germany nor France would participate in such an idea. So he would be in the same position as George W. Bush at the outset at least.
Is there in any one of the statements by either presidential candidate a solution here? Is there is an exit strategy for U.S. involvement? What is the reality?
AJAMI: Well, Senator Kerry -- we have an Arabic saying when someone says something impossible. We say from his mouth to the gates of heaven. He will find nothing. He will find no relief in Germany and no relief in France. He will find no troops at the United Nations that will ride to the rescue. No cavalry from anywhere in the world will ride to the rescue.
The only rescue, the only exit we have are these 250,000 Iraqi soldiers and border guards, that they will be Iraqi nationalists, that they will stand up and fight for their country, and they will relieve the burden of these young men and women from Kansas and Vermont and Indiana who are dying in a foreign and hostile land. There is no other -- there is no relief for us. There is no relief. No Arab relief. No Muslim relief. No European relief. No U.N. relief. No one shall come to our rescue. It is only the Iraqis. The Iraqis, if they are genuinely Iraqi patriots who will take from us the burden of the defense of their country.
DOBBS: And President Bush? He's being disingenuous when he says everything is going swimmingly?
AJAMI: Well, he's a candidate for office. And he knows in fact that all our good choices were at the front end, they're not available at the back end. He knows that he underestimated, or as he said, miscalculated, of what was to be found in Iraq. So we are there.
DOBBS: Fouad Ajami, as always, good to have you here. We appreciate your insight.
Turning now to tonight's poll. The question on the upcoming presidential election, "which has the greatest influence on your vote? The conventions, the debates, or political advertisements?
Cast your vote at CNN.com/lou. We'll have the results later here in the broadcast.
Taking a look now at some of your thoughts.
Marti McKown of San Luis Obispo, California. "Dear Lou, let me see if I got this straight. We outsource our jobs to Mexico, have three million illegal aliens coming across our borders trying to get the low paying jobs that were not outsourced to Mexico, and we want to give them amnesty, education, Social Security, and health insurance, none of which we can get or afford because we lost our jobs to outsourcing?"
A fairly good capsule, I think.
Darren in Flagstaff, Arizona. "Perhaps Cat Stevens should have tried to get into the United States by sneaking across the border from Mexico."
And Stan Sulewski of Hohenwald, Tennessee. "After U.S. companies chose to move equipment, technology, and our jobs to China, they whine about Chinese knock-off products?"
We love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts at loudobbs@CNN.com. Please send your name and address. Each of you whose e-mail is read on the broadcast receives a new copy of my new book, "Exporting America."
Seismologists are closely monitoring Mount St. Helens tonight after a large number of earthquakes were recorded there three days ago. The largest number of earthquakes yesterday in 18 years in fact. The Forest Services has closed hiking areas near the volcano's crater and some of the surrounding areas. Nicole Doll from our affiliate KGW reports from the U.S.G.S. Volcanic Observatory in Vancouver.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICOLE DOLL, KGW CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Geophysicist Mike Polland (ph) in 1980...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's five.
DOLL: The kindergartner more acquainted with Seuss than Seismic but when Mount St. Helens erupted...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember Mount St. Helens erupting and talking about it in school and so forth and I remember that's probably why I got real interested in volcanoes.
DOLL: Now the 28-year-old scientist will spend Monday afternoon on the volcano's lava dome, one of several U.S. geological survey scientists collecting data on the mountain's unexpected earthquakes.
SETH MORAN, SEISMOLOGIST, USGS: To see if there is any evidence of magna bulging up on parts of the dome or the crater walls. Also going out to look for any sign that there might be magmatic gases coming out of the lava dome.
DOLL: Like clockwork, every minute or so, the needle dances. Since late last week, the quakes were tiny at first but yesterday scientists measured 12 to 15 at a magnitude two or greater.
And the swarms of quakes are getting stronger. This is the latest record from the size of a graph inside the lava dome. The ink represents a quake. You can see that it's bleeding through the paper and nearly ripping it apart.
MORAN: There's probably nothing larger than a 1.5. Still ticking along.
DOLL: How is this different than 1980? The earthquakes that heralded the eruption were more frequent and much bigger. Magnitude threes and fours. Scientists suspect this time the building pressure could cause a small explosion. For Mike Polland, a boy's memory now a scientist adventure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel more like I'm visiting a place that, that's really part of volcano history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: That was Nicole Doll of affiliate KGW reporting.
The May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens volcano eruption blew a 5,000- foot hole in the top of the mountain. That blast flattened 150 square miles of surrounding forests, 57 people were killed. It was the biggest blast in a series of eruptions on Mount St. Helens from March to June in 1980. Volcanic ash and debris from those eruptions fell over 12,000 square miles of the Pacific northwest including the states of Portland, Oregon, and as well, Vancouver, Washington. The damage was estimated at 3 billion. On Wednesday, an asteroid named Toutatis will come within 960,000 miles of our planet. Astronomers say this will be the largest asteroid to pass this close to earth until the end -- end of this century. Toutatis is three miles long. It's 1 1/2 miles wide. Scientists say it is comprised of two to three space rocks held together by gravity, and it will pass this planet at 22,000 miles an hour. NASA says there is no risk of Toutatis to the earth, but if it did, its impact would be the equivalent of a blast of a million tons of TNT. In other words, we don't even want to think about it.
Coming up next, a warning tonight about the first presidential election in Florida since the debacle four years ago. Former president Jimmy Carter says there is still cause for great concern. That story is next.
And then, the candidates prepare for what will be a critical 90 minutes in this campaign. I'll be talking with three of the country's top political journalists about what they should be doing and what we should be expecting.
And celebrating the men and women who lead our young people to success on the field and in life. Tonight, our special series. We focus on America's coaches. That and a great deal more including more of your thoughts still ahead here tonight. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Tonight, former president Jimmy Carter is warning that the upcoming elections in the state of Florida could be more disastrous than the one four years ago. President Carter wrote an op- ed piece in the "Washington Post" saying, "basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in Florida." The former president says those requirements include uniform voting procedures and nonpartisan election officials. Carter says as a result a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely.
Separately, a federal court reopened a lawsuit challenging paperless electronic voting in Florida. The 11 U.S. circuit court of appeals ruled that a lower-court judge was wrong when he dismissed the lawsuit filed by Congressman Robert Wexler. Wexler's lawsuit claimed the paperless machines used in 15 of Florida's 67 counties make manual recounts impossible. The lower court had ruled paper records were not necessary. The case now goes to trial.
The presidential candidates today prepared for their first debate, three nights away. A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll finds President Bush will go into the debate with a clear significant lead over Senator Kerry. The national poll finds President Bush has a 52- 42 percent lead over the senator among likely voters. Registered voters favoring the president over Senator Kerry by 53-42 percent.
Joining me now to assess these numbers and a great deal more, three of the country's leading political journalists, Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent, "TIME" magazine; Ron Brownstein, national political correspondent, "L.A. Times"; Roger Simon, political editor of U.S. News & World Report" joining us tonight from Washington.
Karen, this lead, it is in insurmountable if indeed it is accurate?
KAREN TUMULTY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Not at all, and of course we've seen these polls jumping all over the place over the last -- well, basically since the Republican convention. So, and as we've talked about so many times on this show, this is -- the national poll numbers really don't give you a sense of what's going on in the individual states.
DOBBS: Turning to Ron, if I may, some of the interesting numbers in this include Bush being really even on the economy and Iraq, but when it comes to terrorism, he -- he's decidedly ahead of Senator Kerry. Is that going to be a turning point in this campaign in your judgment?
RON BROWNSTEIN, L.A. TIMES: Well, very consistent finding Lou. Can I give kind of a yes. But to Karen, yes, the states can look different, but if the national lead is in the range that we've seen in these polls in the last few day, six to eight, pretty consistently in four to five polls that have come out since Friday, that would be enough to carry President Bush over the top in all the battleground states. If he can hold it.
Yes, Lou, to answer your question, the dynamic has been very consistent. President Bush's strongest rating are on terror. They've been rock solid for three years. On economy, generally the approval has been lower than it is in this poll. It's been kind of net negative, and Iraq has been kind of a tipping point, which striking which not only in this poll but the flurry of others in the last few day, the president's approval on Iraq is no better than even, often net negative, and yet when they asked to handle the issue going forward, most voters are picking him over Senator Kerry. That obviously frames the challenge for John Kerry in this week's debate.
DOBBS: Roger, do you concur with our colleagues?
ROGER SIMON, U.S NEWS AND WORLD REPORT: Yes, I do. I think the real challenge for Kerry is to decouple Iraq from terrorism. President Bush and the Republicans at their convention were very successful in portraying the war in Iraq as a war against terrorism. President Bush said in his press conference last week that if we don't fight the terrorist in Iraq, we'll be fighting them in America. Majority of the American public think that Iraq had something to do with the September 11 attack on the United States, which the experts have said are not true. And John Kerry must get this election about Iraq, not fighting the war on terrorism, and how well the war in Iraq and the occupation are being conducted too.
DOBBS: Well, we're going to have an opportunity to hear these two men join on the issue of Iraq and foreign policy Thursday evening.
Karen, do you expect anything here that is surprising or unique?
TUMULTY: You know, the capacity for surprises in this debate is extremely limited by the ground rules that the two sides agreed to. This is a 32-page document. It is -- you know, as much fine print as I think I've ever seen going into this. And what's interesting about it, as much as anything else, is the fact that there is going to be almost no opportunity either for the debate moderators to follow-up with questions, and absolutely no opportunity for true rebuttal. And as a result, what you're going to have is a real potential for these guys just sitting here and spouting a bunch of canned statements that then go unchallenged.
DOBBS: Do you believe that -- is this significantly different than previous debates in that regard?
TUMULTY: Well, I think that it's sort of a continuum, each debate seems to get more and more structured, more and more scripted. It's also interesting, too, that the candidates are not even so much as allowed to ask each other direct questions. Although, it does stipulate that the rhetorical questions are allowed.
Rhetorical questions, do you have any advice for the candidate, Ron, particularly Senator Kerry since he seems to be behind in the polls.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I don't be if I have any advice but in talking to each side, I can tell you what they are thinking. And obviously you can see some of in what they are saying in the days leading up to it. Clearly President Bush wants to focus on the argument that Senator Kerry cannot be trusted to handle Iraq. Arguing that he's changed his positions too many times. In effect, discounting the messenger so he doesn't have to get into the weeds of the message.
Senator Kerry's I think task is to focus more on how things are going in Iraq today and where we go from here. And not so much on the sort of interminable tangles he's been in on whether we were right to do it in the first place. They want a more forward-looking debate about where we go from here and whether in fact, as Roger said, that the war in Iraq has contributed or hurt our efforts in the war on terror.
DOBBS: And Roger, you just perhaps I think may have heard the John Hopkins professor Fouad Ajami, one of the country's leading experts in the Middle East, if I may condense his statement, Senator Kerry doesn't know what he is talking about when it comes to building a larger coalition, because as the "Financial Times" today reported, France and Germany aren't going to be in Iraq in any way in the future. And secondly, President Bush is simply at very best being pen glossy when talking about how well things are going in Iraq.
So what's -- where is the profit in that issue?
SIMON: It's a grim analysis you've just read us. That neither one of these two guys have the ability to get us out of Iraq, which I think a majority of the American people would like to see.
Kerry's problem -- Kerry has become very good, very strong, very adept at point out the mistakes that were made getting us into Iraq and the mistakes since then. Where he falls down or has failed yet to make his case, is what he would do to get us out of Iraq. What he would do to bring coalition partners in. And what he would do to speed that process. How in other words are his plans any different than those of George Bush's?
DOBBS: So do I correctly infer from the three of you we should all tune into these debates Thursday evening, because we are sure to be presented with great substance, great style, excitement, and even epiphany at various points is that a fair interpretation.
BROWNSTEIN: There's always drama, Lou. There's always something in these debates.
SIMON: Where there is life there is hope.
TUMULTY: And there is still an opportunity to make a mistake.
DOBBS: Well with that optimistic outlook, Karen, thank you very much. Ron, Roger, thank you all.
"Tonight's Thought" is on elections. The fact that a man is to vote, forces him to think. You may preach to a congregation by the year and not affected it's thought because it's not called upon for definite action. But throw your subject into a campaign and it becomes a challenge. The words of American author John J. Chapman.
Remind now to vote in our poll. Which will have the greatest influence on your vote, the conventions, debates, or political advertisement. Cast your vote at cnn.com/lou. We'll have the results later in the broadcast.
Coming right up, "America Works." Tonight we focus on coaches, as a matter of fact, all week long we do. Tonight, the story of a coach who makes America work. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: In "America Works," we look at some of the nation's brightest coaches and the impact they have on the lives of their young athletes. Tonight, the story of college track coach Damon Martin who has taken his team from a small school in the high plains of southern Colorado to success on a national stage.
Bill Tucker reports from Alamosa, Colorado.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON MARTIN, TRACK COACH: Success is a journey. It's not a destination. The moment you people start to think that you've reached where you're going to be successful you will be defeated and you will not be successful.
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Coach Damon Martin is the head of the men's and women's track teams in Adams State College in the small southern Colorado town of Alamosa. Since assuming the head coaching job in 1989, his athletes have earned 445 All-American honors, 51 individual championships, and 15 national championships.
Last year, his men's and women's cross-country teams swept the national championships. His philosophy is very simple.
MARTIN: I don't care if it's an easy day, hard day, you have to focus. You have to become mesmerized by the activity that you're doing. And in your cases, it's running.
TUCKER (on camera): As impressive as the team achievements are on the track, this spring, two-thirds of coach Martin's athletes were named to the athletic director's honor's list. Meaning that they had grade point averages of 3.0 or higher, five had perfect 4.0s.
(voice-over): There are no full-ride scholarships here, no promise of millions of dollars and draft to seduce them, but there are expectations.
MARTIN: I expect greatness from you people. And I expect to teach you to expect it from each other.
TUCKER: And those expectations yield results.
CARL BLACKHURST, GRADUATE ASSISTANT COACH: I walked on as a freshman, and when I graduated, I had seven all-Americans. So for somebody who wasn't supposed to run in college, I was pretty pleased with that, you know.
ZOILA GOMEZ, ADAMS STATE DISTANCE RUNNER: One of the things that he always remarks impacts us is whenever you do something, you have to do something, not for yourself but for something greater than yourself. And I think just by having him set an example, most of the stuff I did, I did it for him.
TUCKER: The only school that recruited Zoila Gomez out of high school was Adams State. This year, she was named Division II female athlete of the year.
Bill Tucker, CNN, Alamosa, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: And turning now to more of your thoughts. Phyllis Rosino of Las Vegas, Nevada: "My bills are piling up. I cannot make a dent. I work 40 hours a week, and still can't pay my rent. The barest costs of living are going through the roof. The economy is at an all-time high. Do we really need more proof? Jobs are being outsourced at such an alarming rate. My neighbor has no job at all, with no prospects to date. So perhaps I should be thankful for the little I make. I dare to ask for a living wage, my job would be at stake."
Phyllis, thank you for the poem, and we're going to post that on our Web site for all of you who would like to take a look at it again.
We love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts and your poetry even, at loudobbs@cnn.com. Please send us your name and address. Each of you whose e-mail is read on the broadcast receives a free copy of my new book, "Exporting America."
Still ahead here, oil prices are soaring again, but not for the reasons you might think. We'll have that story. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Well, prices rose, stock prices fell. The Dow down 59 points. The Nasdaq down nearly 20. The S&P down 7.
Record high oil prices today. Christine Romans is here.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Again, add Nigeria and to hurricanes and Iraq, the newest factor driving up world oil prices. Crude is at the highest price on record. World supplies are already stretched, and now a rebel threat in Nigeria has sent prices sky high. Don't count on the loans from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to cool these prices. With U.S. supplies near the lowest in a generation, traders say simply useless.
Gasoline futures prices also rose again today, and prices at the pump rose a nickel in the past couple of weeks, $1.91 now on average.
DOBBS: More good news. The fact is that the outlying years, though, the prices are showing weakness.
ROMANS: You look out to 2009, you're talking about $33 a barrel crude. Some of the traders are saying maybe that's because high oil prices are going to have to slow growth and slow world demand for oil.
DOBBS: And the -- well, that's not exactly an optimistic outlook either.
ROMANS: No, that twisted ...
DOBBS: The UBS confidence -- investor confidence survey again coming up with some surprising new indications.
ROMANS: Well, investor confidence at a four-month low. This is what really surprised me. You got concern about outsourcing as the second most important reason investors are saying they're concerned. One, energy prices; two, outsourcing. That's before Iraq and terrorism.
DOBBS: And it's not the first month that this has occurred?
ROMANS: No, a couple of months in a row now you've had that way up there on the top of the list.
DOBBS: Number two, all right. Thank you very much, Christine Romans.
Well, still ahead here, we'll have the results of the poll and a preview of what's ahead. Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DOBBS: The results of our poll tonight. Eight percent of you say the conventions will have the greatest influence on your vote in November. Eighty-six percent say the debates; 6 percent political ads. Eighty-six percent. I guess most of those people will be tuned in Thursday evening.
Thanks for being with us here. Please join us tomorrow. Astrophysicist Neil Tyson joins us to reveal startling new evidence about the beginning of the universe. And author Victor Davis Hanson will be here. He says the United Nations is not beneficial and is increasingly hostile to freedom. He's my guest, as is Fernando Mateo, of Hispanics Across America. Mateo wants to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. He'll be our guest. Please be with us.
For all of us here, good night from New York. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" is coming up next.
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