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Lou Dobbs Tonight
American Troops in Afghanistan Fighting Most Intense Battles of War Since 9/11; Homeland Insecurity; U.S. Internet Firms Aiding China's Media Crackdown
Aired September 11, 2006 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, five years after September 11th, American troops in Afghanistan are now fighting the most intense battles of the war. In Iraq, more than 130,000 of our troops are fighting an insurgency.
Three of the country's leading authorities on global terrorism join us here tonight to assess whether the United States is winning the war against terrorism.
President Bush today led the nation's tributes to the victims of the September 11th attacks. Three hours from now President Bush will address the nation from the Oval Office.
We'll have a live report from the White House previewing the president's speech.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, news, debate and opinion for Monday, September 11th.
Live in New York, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everybody.
President Bush today led the nation in ceremonies commemorating the nearly 3,000 Americans killed in the September 11th attacks. Tonight, President Bush will deliver a primetime speech to the nation that the White House says will focus on the lessons learned from 9/11.
American troops are still battling radical Islamic terrorists five years after the global war on terror began. The fighting in Afghanistan is more intense now than at any time since the Taliban regime was overthrown. And in Iraq, insurgents are killing on average two of our troops each and every day.
Nic Robertson reports from the Afghan-Pakistani border on the resurgence of the Taliban.
Michael Ware reports from Baghdad on the escalating insurgency and terrorist attacks in Iraq.
And Ed Henry reports from the White House on the president's remembrance of 9/11 victims.
We turn first to Nic Robertson in Afghanistan -- Nic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Taliban have really resurged, or at least insurgents associated with them have resurged over the last year or so, particularly in the south of the country. They've started using suicide bombs, roadside bombs, tactics that haven't been used here before. But overall, the country under the rule of President Hamid Karzai has shown improvement, has made economic progress, but it is still far from a country that is able to stand on its own feet, and it is facing at this time a resurgence from the Taliban and still not able to put a stop to the massive growth of opium poppies which contribute over half of the GDP of this country.
Nic Robertson, along the -- along the Pakistan-Afghan border.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: As the Taliban is in resurgence after five years of fighting by United States and coalition troops, in Washington, D.C., tonight Congress commemorating the five years since the attacks of September 11th. This is a bipartisan ceremony being held live right now on the steps of Capitol Hill. They are singing the national anthem.
Let's listen in.
CONGRESS (SINGING): O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the Dr. Barry C. Black, chaplain in the United States Senate.
BARRY C. BLACK, SENATE CHAPLAIN: Let us pray.
Eternal spirit, before your eyes all empires rise and fall, yet you are changeless. Be near us in this age of terror and in these moments of remembrance. As we think about the fire, smoke and rubble of September 11, 2001, remind us that you are still sovereign.
Uphold those who labor for peace on earth and give us a broad sympathy for all the people of your world. Strengthen us to comfort those who mourn and to work in large ways and small for those things that make for peace. Bless the leaders of this nation and our world so that warfare, like slavery before it, may become only a historic memory.
Tonight, as we honor those who died, deliver us from the temptations of seeking only our own good, hearing only our own truth, and acknowledging only our own suffering. We pray in the comforting name of the prince of peace.
Amen.
CONGRESS: Amen.
DOBBS: Barry Black, he is the chaplain of the U.S. Senate leading the invocation. The ceremony will now move on to words of remembrances from the Senate and House leadership, both Democrat and Republican.
Turning now to the war in Iraq, insurgents have killed two more of our troops. One soldier died in an attack north of Baghdad. Another soldier killed -- in the hospital -- of his wounds.
2,669 of our troops have now been killed in the war.
Insurgents today also killed 13 Iraqi army recruits in a suicide bomb attack on a minibus in the Iraqi capital.
Michael Ware has the report from Baghdad -- Michael.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, you're right, the violence is not abating here in Iraq. The level of insurgent attacks remains fairly constant.
So far this month alone, and according to the CNN figures we have, 26 American troops have died in the 11 days of this month already. And we see in the center of al Qaeda here in Iraq, in Ramadi and Al Anbar province, an area that President Bush himself highlighted in his speech just last week, that America is only half fighting the battle.
The troops there are undermanned and are being encircled by al Qaeda. They're fighting with what they've got, but America is not committing to the fight, despite the fact that the president and military intelligence here can point to that area as the headquarters of al Qaeda.
We see the attacks on the Iraqi security forces continue. A man wearing a chest vest, a suicide bomber, boards a minibus full of police recruits and detonates here in the capital.
In the meantime, we have Saddam's trial. Three more witnesses from Kurdish northern Iraq gave testimony about the Anfal military campaign which they claim targeted them in the late 1980s.
Yet again we saw Saddam leap to the stage, trying to drag in current political events about federalism and the separation of the Kurdish state, which has fled here in recent weeks into the courtroom. So we're seeing a strategy here in Iraq that, if it's not failing, it's certainly ailing. And as we see with the Taliban resurgence that Nic Robertson referred to, that was self-evident two years ago when you could visit the Taliban safe havens in Pakistan which were sponsored by elements of the Pakistani intelligence agency -- Lou.
DOBBS: Michael, thank you very much.
Michael Ware, reporting from Baghdad.
President Bush today leading the nation in solemn ceremonies of remembrance for the victims of 9/11. President Bush began the day with a visit to a New York City fire house. Later, the president visited the Pennsylvania field where United Flight 93 crashed. And he visited as well the Pentagon, where another hijacked airliner crashed.
Ed Henry reports now from the White House -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Lou, you know, the president last evening said he approached this anniversary with a heavy heart, and he certainly struck that tone today, visiting all three sites, as you noted. The president did not speak publicly at any of these events, saving that for tonight, an Oval Office address at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, his 22nd nationally televised primetime speech.
Tony Snow saying this will be a reflective speech, not a political speech. Snow saying he'll be brief, about 16 to 18 minutes, and will focus on how 9/11 reshaped the way the U.S. views the "growing menace from terrorists like Osama bin Laden." But that's certainly the type of rhetoric that Democrats have complained about, allegedly scaring voters to the polls.
That is similar, certainly, to the theme we've heard in some of the president's recent speeches in that series of speeches on the war on terror leading up to the midterm elections. Some excerpts now dribbling out of what the president will say tonight.
In one excerpt he says, "We face an enemy determined to bring death and suffering into our homes. America did not ask for this war and every American wishes it was over. So do I. But the war is not over, and it will not be over until we or the extremelyist emerge victorious. We are in a war that will set the course for this new century and determine the destiny of millions across the world."
Of course, on one hand, such a high profile speech like this could put the president and remind voters of some of his finer moments immediately after 9/11, but it could also remind them of some other facts, such as the fact that Osama bin Laden has still not been caught, such as the fact that, as you've been noting, the war in Afghanistan still raging on five years later.
Finally, also important to note that while an Oval Office address certainly gives the president a large megaphone, the last time he used this address, this type of address, was mid-May to promote his immigration reform plan. And since that point, despite a brief bump, perhaps, for that plan, it has not gone anywhere on Capitol Hill since then -- Lou.
DOBBS: Ed, thank you very much.
Ed Henry reporting from the White House.
We'll of course here on CNN have live coverage of the president's speech to the nation tonight. It begins at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
Iraq and national security will be key issues in primary races across the country. Many of them being held tomorrow. Nine states and the District of Columbia will be holding primary elections tomorrow. Two of the most hotly-contested battles taking place in Rhode Island and Arizona.
In Arizona, five Republicans are running to replace retiring congressman Jim Colby. The frontrunner is Randy Graf. He's running on what is largely a single issue: strict border security. Sixty percent of Arizona's residents say border security is their number one issue during this election season.
And in Rhode Island, Senator Lincoln Chafee is fighting a fierce GOP primary battle against Cranston, Rhode Island, mayor Stephen Laffey. Chafee is considered the most liberal Republican in the U.S. Senate, but Republican Party officials say he is their best shot to hold on to this Senate seat.
And in New York, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton faces a Democratic primary challenge tomorrow, a challenge in word only. She faces labor activist Jonathan Tasini. He's a strong opponent of the war in Iraq. The only question in this race is just how wide a margin Senator Clinton will win by.
Still ahead here, three of the country's leading authorities on terrorism join us to assess whether this country is winning the war against terrorism.
And our ports and borders five years after September 11th remain open wide open to radical Islamist terrorism. We'll have that special report.
And the Senate Intelligence Committee contradicting the Bush administration's early assertions that Saddam Hussein had links with al Qaeda. Vice President Cheney still maintains that view. Two leading members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Trent Lott, Senator Carl Levin, join us with a Democratic and Republican perspective.
And communities all across this country divided over whether English should be our official language. We'll have a special report from one community in Maryland in the midst the controversy.
All of that and a great deal more straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Five years after September 11th, America remains shockingly vulnerable to another terrorist attack. This nation's ports and borders remain unprotected. Efforts to shore up our homeland security, as it is now called, have barely begun.
We have two reports tonight on the alarming vulnerabilities that remain in our nation's defense system.
Jeanne Meserve reports from Washington, D.C., on why this nation remains not secure. And Bill Tucker reports on our wide open borders and wide open ports.
We begin with Jeanne Meserve in Washington -- Jeanne. JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Lou, since 9/11, Boston has developed a comprehensive evacuation plan and communications interoperability. But that city, like the rest of the nation, isn't where it wants to be in terms of security.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice over): Tankers of highly combustible liquefied natural gas pass close to Boston's city center. Though security around them is tight, it hasn't ended the worry of the city's homeland security chief.
CARLO BOCCIA, BOSTON DIRECTOR OF HOMELAND SECURITY: They are incredible measures taken to protect that ship. Can I say to you that that ship is vulnerability free? Absolutely not.
MESERVE: Carlo Boccia also wishes more was being done to safeguard truck and rail shipments of hazardous materials, to protect the city's mass transit system, to guard the historical sites and cultural institutions that define the city.
BOCCIA: These are symbols of what we are and what we come from. You know, to be able to have an enemy, to be able to attack that is like attacking our soul.
MESERVE: Safer, but not safe enough. A theme all across the country.
Some chemical plants have improved security, but others have not. And Congress has not passed comprehensive legislation to protect them.
Cockpit doors are reinforced and some pilots armed, but most air cargo and airport employees are not screened. New technology and more manpower are protecting the nation's borders, but the flow of illegal immigrants has not stopped.
Whether it is port security, interoperable communications, or the readiness of the nation's health system, the story is the same, expert's say. Safer, but not safe enough.
THOMAS KEAN, CHAIRMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION: It's totally inexcusable. And there's a whole variety of people to blame in the administration. The Congress has not done as much as they should.
MESERVE: The secretary of homeland security acknowledges gaps but believes they will be closed.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We have a very clear plan of where we want to be over the next two years. And if we -- if we don't get pushed to backslide, and if we get the appropriate authority from Congress, we're going to complete the job in short order.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: This election season may have refocused attention on the nation's security, but resources are limited, the list of potential targets long, leading some experts to conclude, we will never truly be safe enough -- Lou.
DOBBS: Well, it's easy to accept that assessment when you hear, as you just reported, Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security, saying that he requires another two years and we are now five years from the events that put us into a global war on terror.
Does the secretary have any sense of the sad, even pathetic, irony of his statements?
MESERVE: I would certainly not characterize him as being sad about it. He contests, when asked about it, the state of homeland security and the numerous experts who say the country isn't ready, he claims that progress has been made. He's adamant in making that statement, but at the same time acknowledging further distance needs to be traveled. But he does turn around and point the finger at Congress and say, hey, guys, you have to give us the authority to do more.
DOBBS: Thank you very much.
Jeanne Meserve, reporting from Washington.
MESERVE: You bet.
DOBBS: This broadcast has reported and, in fact, I have argued repeatedly since 9/11 that there can be no true national security without strict border and port security. Five years after September 11th, this nation is failing on both counts.
Bill Tucker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Claims of security at the nation's ports come down to a simple fact. Only 5 percent of the containers entering our ports every year are x-rayed or inspected as they come into the country.
SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D), WASHINGTON: It is a huge hole in our nation's security with 11 million cargo containers coming in every single year into this country. We don't know what's in them, where they've been, or whether or not they're dangerous. To date, we have not made much progress.
TUCKER: According to officials at the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, simple procedures like the validation that containers have not been unsealed are no longer routine. Manifest checks are no longer done on the dock by dock workers. Homeland Security is now vowing to increase continued inspections and purchase more detection equipment.
LEE HAMILTON, VICE CHAIRMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION: I'm frustrated here because we have not been nearly quick enough in getting these detection devices of all kinds and descriptions in place. TUCKER: Border security, or the lack of it, is another area of vulnerability. Lots of attention, lots of talk, little effective action.
T. J. BONNER, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: One would have thought that the 9/11/2001 attacks would have been the wakeup call. And, in fact, most border patrol agents were waiting for the new direction from on high. Sadly, we never received any new direction. We're still doing things the same way we did them before 9/11.
TUCKER: The result of that inaction is that there are now somewhere between 12 and 20 million illegal aliens in the United States. No one knows who they are, where they are, or what their intentions are. It's estimated that they are crossing the border illegally at a rate of three million per year.
DAVID HEYMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: What we've done in the last several years to better protect America looks more like a series of ad hoc responses to the threat du jour. What we need today is a strategic view, and that would form a homeland security system.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: Lou, the biggest concern of the 9/11 Commission chairman, Tom Kean, and the vice chairman, Lee Hamilton, is very simple. They think Congress has lost its sense of urgency to secure America.
DOBBS: Or simply lost any resemblance to something called common sense. It is -- it's astonishing. And we report on this each -- seemingly each evening. The irresponsibility of the political leadership and, frankly, of both parties, and certainly the White House and Congress is simply beyond belief.
Bill Tucker, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
That brings us to the subject of our poll tonight. The question is, do you believe the United States is winning the war against radical Islamist terrorism? Yes or no?
Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll have the results for you here later in the broadcast. And we'll be assessing that with three of the leading experts on the subject.
Also ahead, communist China once again trying to limit its citizens access to foreign media. Guess who's helping the communists attack free speech? We'll have the answer for you.
And former President Clinton versus ABC, the grudge match far from over. We'll have the latest on the path to 9/11 controversy coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Ground Zero remains a bit untouched in the five years since September 11th. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation last week unveiled plans for three more skyscrapers to be built there. The towers, which would surround the World Trade Center memorial, are the latest in plans to be added to the already approved Freedom Tower.
The Freedom Tower will stand 1,776 feet tall. It's expected to be finished in another five years, once it starts.
The redevelopment of the World Trade Center site has been marked by battles between the victims' families, politicians, insurance companies, developers, government bureaucrats, architects, and on and on the list goes. Fights erupting over the design of the buildings, the memorials, who would pay for them, the placement of the memorial, security concerns, and control of the projects. Of course, because of all of the infighting, it will take at least a decade to fill what is now a hole in the ground.
Across the street, at 7 World Trade Center in mark contrast and an entirely different store. Free from the bureaucratic and political wrangling, 7 World Trade remains the only building to be rebuilt since the terrorist attacks of five years ago. Already half the space has been rented just four months after the building was completed and opened.
More than $7 billion in compensation has been given to the families of the 9/11 victims from the government September 11th Victims Compensation Fund. According to the Department of Justice, 100 percent of the 2,880 families who applied and who were eligible have been compensated. Charities have given families an additional $2.5 billion.
Time now to look at some of your thoughts.
B in Texas, "In reference to your poll question of the other day: Do I know anyone who thinks Saddam Hussein had anything to do with the 9/11 attacks? I used to know them. I've chosen not to associate with them any longer."
Sam in Louisiana, "Do I know anyone who believes in the connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11? Yes, they are the same people who believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy."
And from John in California, "Lou, each time George W. Bush states that we are safer because terrorists have not hit America since 9/11 I cringe. Each time I hear that one of our troops in Iraq is killed or wounded by a roadside bomb, I know that America has been hit. I'm a Vietnam-era veteran."
E-mail us at loudobbs.com. We'll have more of your thoughts here later.
Up next, Senator Trent Lott, Senator Carl Levin join us on the controversy over Saddam Hussein and his alleged ties in some quarters to al Qaeda, and to assess whether we're winning this global war on terror.
And the communist Chinese government trying to silence U.S. media firms in China and other foreign journalists, and U.S. technology companies, why they seemed just pleased as punch to help the communist Chinese.
We'll have that special report.
And three of the nation's most respected authorities on defense and terrorism join me here tonight to assess whether we're winning this war five years after 9/11.
And former president Bill Clinton, he's fuming tonight over ABC's 9/11 film. We'll have that live update.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: ABC defies President Clinton and airs the first part of a controversial miniseries about the events that led to September 11th. We'll have a special report in just a moment.
But first, Iran tonight appears to be ready to make concessions in its nuclear confrontation with the world. Iran telling European negotiators that Iran might temporarily suspend uranium enrichment after nuclear talks have begun. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today insists Iran must suspend its nuclear activities before any such talks. Last month Iran failed to meet a U.N. deadline to stop enrichment of uranium, a process that can lead to nuclear weapons.
Space shuttle Atlantis astronauts tonight are aboard the International Space Station, and they're preparing for the first of what will be three important space walks. Astronauts will perform construction work on the International Space Station, beginning with the first space walk. That's set for tomorrow.
Atlantis successfully docked with the space station this morning. NASA says it has not found any damage to the shuttle's heat tiles after Saturday's launch.
Much of the East Coast tonight being hit with heavy surf from Hurricane Florence. Florence is churning hundreds of miles off the east coast now in the Atlantic Ocean, moving further out to sea tonight, but the East Coast will still see rip currents and ocean swells from the storm through tomorrow. Florence hit Bermuda today, sustaining winds of around 90 miles-an-hour. There are no reports of serious injuries or damage in Bermuda tonight.
In this country, gasoline prices are dropping sharply all across the country. The Lundberg Survey saying retail gasoline prices fell by nearly 22 cents a gallon over the past two weeks. The national average for gasoline is now $2.65 a gallon. This is the second straight decline in the survey since gasoline prices hit their record highs in mid-August.
As gasoline prices fall, the cost of health care continues to rise. The Bush administration this month is expected to announce a new Medicare surcharge for elderly Americans with incomes exceeding $50,000. As many as a million and a half Medicare beneficiaries will pay the additional surcharge if they wish to remain in the program. Some elderly Americans could see their premiums quadruple by 2009 under the new surcharges.
The Justice Department reporting tonight that homicide rates and firearm violence rising for the first time in a decade. The U.S. murder rate, up almost five percent last year. The Midwest and the south experienced the largest increases in violent crime. Overall crime rates continue to decline. In fact, the national crime rate is at a 32-year low.
The Communist Chinese government tonight is announcing yet another sweeping crackdown on global news organizations doing business in China. The Communist Chinese crackdown comes as American firms continue to sell the latest information technology to China, technology that in fact enables the communists to widen their assault on free speech. Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In China, using the Internet carries high risks, possibly jail. The Communist government uses the Internet to track and arrest activists and even innocent bloggesr. some in Congress are outraged American companies have helped them do it.
REP. TOM LANTOS (D), CALIFORNIA: The Chinese impose ever-hard restrictions because they want to maintain the fundamentally police state character of their society.
PILGRIM: The U.S. Commerce Department is supposed to prevent U.S. exports of sensitive technology to China. But rules can border on the ridiculous. For example, banning the export of handcuffs, but allowing U.S. companies to export software technology that can be used in censorship.
A recent human rights report criticizes four U.S. companies stating, "We have documented different ways in which companies such as Yahoo, Microsoft, Google and Skype are assisting and reinforcing the Chinese government's system of arbitrary, opaque and unaccountable political censorship."
SOPHIE RICHARDSON, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Some of the companies have actually voluntarily censored their own sites or their own search engines without even being asked to do so.
PILGRIM: This week, China also cracked down on western media operating in China with 22 new regulations, giving the communist government news agency control of all news photos and computer images, as well as the power to accredit foreign news media and journalists.
JENNIFER WINDSOR, FREEDOM HOUSE: It's estimated that there's literally thousands and thousands of Chinese that are employed doing nothing but trying to close off any kind of connection to the outside world.
PILGRIM: These new rules would now not only censor Chinese citizens, but U.S. journalists working in China as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: China says they're opening up their society, Lou, in advance of the 2008 Olympics. But it's clear that the censorship is getting worse, not better.
DOBBS: and it's clear that those who believe that markets lead automatically to democracies, perhaps should do some rethinking of their views. Kitty Pilgrim, thank you very much.
"Death of a President," the fictional movie depicting the assassination of President Bush opened at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend. The pre-screening hype surrounding the controversial movie made it one of the hottest tickets at the Toronto festival, but the audience response to the film was described as tepid at best.
Controversy swirling around the making of the movie that digitally placed President Bush's face on the body of an actor. The actor being shot, of course.
The battle between ABC television and former president Bill Clinton still in full force. President Clinton has objected to his administration's portrayal in the miniseries, "The Path to 9/11." ABC aired the first part, the first half of the movie last night. The conclusion will be broadcast this evening. Joining me now for the controversy, a man who knows, A.J. Hammer, host of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," on CNN Headline Prime. A.J.?
A.J. HAMMER, CNN HOST: Lou, as you said, ABC's controversial miniseries "The Path to 9/11" did go on as planned, even after demands by former President Clinton and others that it be pulled of the air entirely or at the very least, changed. Now ABC did edit certain scenes the former president, Madeleine Albright and Sandy Berger said were misleading or downright false. I had a chance to talk with Harvey Keitel, who plays an FBI agent in the miniseries. Even he told me that yes, ABC should have made changes to be factually accurate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARVEY KEITEL, ACTOR: Yes, I had questions about certain events and material I was given in "The Path to 9/11" that I did raise questions about. Yes, I had some conflicts there.
HAMMER: Do you feel that anything should be changed in this film?
KEITEL: Yes, I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: And on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos", Thomas Kean, the chairman of the 9/11 commission, who was a consultant on this miniseries, had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS KEAN, CONSULTANT, THE PATH TO 9/11: If people blame Bill Clinton after seeing this and the miniseries ...
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Let me just get to the specifics.
KEAN: ... have failed. That's wrong, and it shouldn't happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: That's an interesting point because in reality, a lot of people were wondering what if anything was actually changed. Now twice in the airing, ABC made it a point to deemphasize to use of the 9/11 Commission's report as a source of material for this miniseries.
Now the original version in the press material that we had received indicated that the film was based on the 9/11 Commission report. That claim was omitted from the film last night. A disclaimer also emphasized that it was not a documentary.
Now we contacted former President Clinton's office for a response after the first part aired last night. This is what they told us, quote, "The Path to 9/11 had Clinton administration officials saying things they did not say and doing things they did not do. Many of these scenes are directly contradicted by the 9/11 Commission report. The American public deserved better."
And as far as the ratings ago, "The Path to 9/11" had about 13 million viewer, that made it for second place, right behind NBC's debut of Sunday night football, which Lou, had about 20 million viewers. And if you're wondering what Mr. Clinton was watching last night, he was watching the game.
DOBBS: OK. A.J. Hammer, thank you very much. You can join A.J. for a special edition of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" at 11 p.m. Eastern on CNN Headline Prime.
Coming up next, the war against radical Islamist terrorism is a key priority for this administration and this nation. But are we winning? I'll be talking with three of the country's leading, leading experts on terrorism and a new Senate intelligence committee report showing no link whatsoever between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. The White House continues to suggest the same thing they did two years ago, that is agree. The vice president continues to disagree. Senator Trent Lott, Senator Carl Levin are my guests here next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The war against terror and radical Islamist terrorists has lasted longer than World War II.
President Bush last week compared Osama bin Laden to Hitler and to Lenin. But so far, the United States has failed to kill or to capture Osama bin Laden or the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar. Joining me now, three of the country's leading authorities on terrorism. Jed Babbin, former deputy undersecretary of defense, author of the book, "Inside the Asylum: Why the United Nations and Old Europe are Worse Than You Think." Clark Kent Ervin is former inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security. His book, "Open Target: Where America Is Vulnerable to Attack." And Janice Kephart, former counsel for the 9/11 Commission, now a senior consultant with the Investigative Project on Terrorism. We thank you all for being here.
Let me turn to you first, Jed. It's five years, it's hundreds of billions of dollars later. Are we winning this war or are the terrorists winning?
JED BABBIN, FORMER DEPUTY UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Neither. We are not in a position where we can claim that we are winning. We have rolled up a number of terrorist networks, but on the other hand, if we look at some of the terrorist-sponsoring nations, such as Iran, which has grown in its threat to us, and Syria, which is undisturbed, we are not winning against them certainly.
DOBBS: Janice, your thoughts?
JANICE KEPHART, FORMER COUNSEL FOR 9/11 COMMISSION: Internationally, Lou, I cannot possibly say that we are winning. At home, I think the fact that we have not had an attack here and there were dozens of plots after 9/11 that were thwarted is a positive. But the security loopholes are so large in this nation now, I think it's hard to say that we're actually winning the war on terror until we have those security loopholes closed up.
DOBBS: Clark, you have written a book on the vulnerabilities that remain in this country. As we've been reporting here on an absolutely vulnerable border, vulnerable ports. What is your assessment of where we are in this war, with the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on homeland security, so-called, and in Iraq and Afghanistan, hundreds of billions of dollars spent -- but more importantly, the almost 2,700 lives, American lives lost?
CLARK KENT ERVIN, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, DHS: Well, Lou, there is no question but that we are not winning internationally. Afghanistan has recently become yet again a resurgent ground for the Taliban. So we are actually backtracking in Afghanistan. Obviously, Iraq is an absolute disaster, and I'm afraid that it's become a terrorist recruiting ground.
Here at home, I think the fact that we have not been attacked in five years obviously is a good thing, but it certainly does not mean and would be dangerous to think that it means that we're out of the woods. I think what it really means is that al Qaeda wants the next attack to be at least as spectacular if not more spectacular than the next one, and it takes a lot of time to plan such spectacular attacks.
DOBBS: This White House has made much of its homeland security improvements, Jed. It's made much of the necessity to stay the course in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet we see a country in Iraq that seems to be on the verge of civil war. In Afghanistan, the Taliban is resurgent, without question. What in the world are we doing to win these wars? I do not mean stay the course, but I mean to win them, and to be sure that we are safe at home?
BABBIN: Well, two things. Number one, the best way to be safe at home is to terminate the threat from abroad, because global terrorism doesn't exist without state sponsorship.
Having said that, we are not doing nearly enough to take down the state sponsors of terrorism. If we don't fight this war in a manner calculated to win it decisively, we will lose it inevitably, and we are not on the former path at this point.
DOBBS: Are you saying strike Iran, strike Syria?
BABBIN: I'm saying that we need to create a situation where there is regime change in Iran, and we need to take Syria out of the terrorism business forcibly.
DOBBS: Janice, your thoughts?
KEPHART: I would like to focus on the home front a bit. And in terms of security here at home, I mean, it's very hard to say that we can have any security when we're not putting any strategies out on the table, for example, to secure our borders. We're six years into this administration, and we still haven't seen a comprehensive border strategy, let alone a strategy to secure our physical borders. So when we know that foreign terrorists seek to come into this country, there are many already embedded here, that is a huge concern in and of itself.
DOBBS: All right, Clark, what is Homeland Security doing about those threats and vulnerabilities of which Janice speaks?
ERVIN: Well, certainly there's been some progress, Lou, to be fair. Cockpit doors are hardened. The number of air marshals is significantly higher. But what's really troubling is, we've done far more in the aviation sector than anything else, and yet, as the recently foiled plot just a few weeks ago shows, we're still far more vulnerable in the aviation sector than we need to be. So America really remains an open target for terrorists, and I'm afraid to say that it's only a matter of time before we're hit again.
DOBBS: You all seem to agree on that view. You -- how in the world can the United States government -- this is after all a superpower -- contend with a group of people led by their religion, it is -- a set of personal beliefs that has risen to an ideology or descended to an ideology, depending on how you look at it -- how in the world can we continue to spend hundreds of billions of dollars and follow the same course that we are, and expect to prevail? The cost is too high in human life. It's too high in treasure. And it is not succeeding, by your own statements?
BABBIN: Well, I agree with that, Lou. But we need to focus on two things. Number one, the ideological war, which we are not currently fighting fully or really very much at all. And the second point is investing lives and treasure is a matter of how you do it and where you do it, and I don't think we're doing it the right way right now in terms of the measure of it or where it's aimed.
DOBBS: Moving the politics aside, the president, civilian commander in chief, the civilian Department of Defense secretary, our generals are not getting it done. Our men and women are the best trained. They are super. Why in the world has not a single general been fired in this? Instead, they ask for patience, they ask for...
BABBIN: I think that's a tough question. The real issue is what are these generals being asked to do and whether they're getting it done in a timely way. If they are not, they should be fired.
DOBBS: Quickly, Clark, your last thoughts on this.
ERVIN: Well, Lou, you know, I am concerned by the large number of videotapes and audiotapes we're seeing from bin Laden himself from his number two, Zawahiri. We're just celebrating -- not celebrating, but commemorating the fifth anniversary of 9/11. All the signs, it seems to me, point to another attack. So we need to rekindle the urgency and the sense of unity that we had after 9/11. And unless and until we do that, we'll be in moral peril, it seems to me.
DOBBS: Janice, you have the final word this evening.
KEPHART: Well, I agree with Clark, that we do need to -- need to remain -- sustain our sense of urgency about what we are as a democratic people and the value that each of us as individuals can lend to the cause in exporting our democratic values abroad. It's one of the things the 9/11 Commission talked about quite a bit was exporting our democratic values abroad and the ideological concepts of who we are.
And I think that in and of itself can help start to peel back some of the issues and some of the growing sentiment that we're seeing that's so negative abroad.
DOBBS: And as you utter those words, Jed Babbin is here, shaking his head, thinking he wants to export something besides values and visit upon the enemy.
We thank you all for being here. Jed, thank you very much.
BABBIN: Thank you.
DOBBS: Clark, as always, thank you very much. Janice, thank you.
KEPHART: Thank you.
ERVIN: Thank you, Lou. You bet.
DOBBS: Coming up at the top of the hour here on CNN, "THE SITUATION ROOM" and Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Lou. On this anniversary of 9/11, we're taking you live to Afghanistan, where the hunt for bin Laden has come up cold and the Taliban appears to be gaining strength. Five years later, is the mission accomplished? Taking you on the ground to Afghanistan.
Also, Hillary Clinton on Iraq, Afghanistan and 9/11. She is here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Plus, fixing America's image around the world. We'll speak with the woman whose job it is to try to make it better. That would be Karen Hughes, but is this mission impossible? I'll ask her.
And the president. He addresses the nation tonight. We'll have a sneak preview of his speech. All that, Lou, coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Wolf. Look forward to it.
Up next here, two leading members of the Senate Intelligence Committee join me to discuss the war on terror. Is the price too high? Stay with us.
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DOBBS: Vice President Dick Cheney continues to assert Saddam Hussein's regime had ties to al Qaeda before the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. The vice president's assertion on NBC's "Meet The Press" comes despite a new Senate intelligence report showing that there is absolutely no connection whatsoever.
Joining me today, two leading members of that intelligence committee, Senator Trent Lott and Senator Carl Levin. They join us tonight from Capitol Hill. Gentlemen, thanks for being here. I would like to hear both your reactions to the vice president saying two things, one that he's saying nothing that changes his mind and secondly that he hasn't seen your report. Senator Lott?
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: Well, our report just came out, I believe, last Friday. So it's, you know, entirely believable that the vice president may not have read it. I thought he handled himself very well though and I've never seen Tim Russert more exacerbated about being able to get one of his guests on the spot.
Look, I haven't changed my mind either. Now, was the evidence not what it should have been in many instances? Yes. We did an investigation of the intelligence and we were not satisfied with what we were told. We have passed some reforms and we hope that our intelligence community is doing a better job now.
DOBBS: When you say you haven't changed your mind, you're not suggesting that you still believe there's a relationship between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein?
LOTT: No, look, that was not a basis for the decision.
DOBBS: No, I understand what it wasn't a basis for. But what is important to me, as an American citizen, I'm sure to you, senator, to lots of us, is that if the Senate intelligence committee puts out a report this important, if every intelligence agency and the president of the United States say there's no relationship, that perhaps the vice president of the United States might consider that been a truism?
LOTT: Well, as a matter of fact, there was some evidence that was denied in some other reports about intelligence from the Czech Republic. There was some information about an al Qaeda person being in Iraq. To say there was none at all probably is debatable. But it was not a deciding factor in the intelligence that we received and the vote to go to war against Iraq and the war on terror.
DOBBS: Senator Levin, I would love to hear your thoughts, your reaction as well?
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), INTELLIGENCE CMTE: As a matter of fact the constant drum beat by the administration that there was a link between the people who attacked us on this day five years ago and a link between them and Saddam Hussein was the guiding force that persuaded the American people to go to war. It was that link between the very people, the attackers of 9/11, that the administration tried to make out, saying there's no distinction between the 9/11 terrorists and between Saddam Hussein.
That's what the administration told us before the war. The president said they were allies on the deck of that aircraft carrier, when he said mission accomplished. Of course that was the key ingredient of a public decision. I believe many of our colleagues decided to go to war against Iraq because they believed, the American people believed, that somehow or another Saddam Hussein was linked to the 9/11 attackers.
DOBBS: Well, for example, White House spokesman Tony Snow, Senator, said that Democrats, Republicans looked at exactly the same information, voted overwhelmingly to go to war against Iraq. You looked at that intelligence. Your assessments, the assessments of your party members and was the same as party members of the Republican leadership. How do you sort that out at this stage?
LEVIN: Well, About half the Democrats voted to go to war based on the intelligence that they saw. About half of us voted not to go to war based on that intelligence. So we were about equally divided, unlike the Republicans, all of whom, I think, but one, perhaps, voted to go to war. But the point is that the key ingredient that we looked at, there were two things, one was the weapons of mass destruction, and I think everybody there thought there was evidence that he had weapons. But in terms of the relationship, the intelligence community had grave doubts that there was a relationship, any operational connection between al Qaeda and between Saddam Hussein.
DOBBS: Gentlemen, I want to ask you one question because this is all retrospective. It appears that there's strong forces at work that would suggest that if Iran does not comply with ending its nuclear enrichment program, that we could well be on our way to war with Iran, certainly striking them. Now here we can be perspective. First you, Senator Levin, how would you have the United States go forward with the threat posed by Iran? LEVIN: I would continue to take the position that it is unacceptable that Iran have a nuclear weapon. I would do something we did not do before Iraq, which would be to work with the international community, to have them as allies. Because every neighbor of Iran does not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon. But we've got to hold the international community together in whatever we do. Hopefully not needing force, but whatever we need to do to prevent them to have a nuclear weapon. Our credibility is way low with the international community, given what we did in Iraq.
DOBBS: Would you contemplate military action?
LEVIN: Contemplate it, I hope not but keep that as a possibility. I think that is always, needs to be kept as a possibility.
DOBBS: Senator Lott, I need to get your answer on this.
LOTT: Well, I'll be very specific. I think I agree with most of what Senator Levin said there. And I, by the way, want to point out that that is exactly what the administration is doing. They're trying to find ways to work diplomatically, economically, work with our allies to try to get sanctions. We need to push all of that, but it's a very dangerous situation in Iran and this has got to be a very high priority with what we do in the future.
DOBBS: Gentlemen, we thank you very much. Senator Carl Levin, Senator Trent Lott, as always, gentlemen, thank you very much.
Still ahead, the results of our poll. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
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DOBBS: Ninety five percent of you responding in our poll to say that you don't believe we are winning the war against radical Islamist terrorism. We thank you for being with us tonight. Thanks for watching. Good night from New York. "THE SITUATION ROOM" begins now with Wolf Blitzer, Wolf.
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