Return to Transcripts main page
Lou Dobbs Tonight
America Votes 2006; More Than 100 Americans Killed in Iraq This Month; New Wave of Violence in Mexico
Aired October 30, 2006 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, HOST: Tonight, President Bush challenging Democrats to come up with a plan for victory in Iraq as our midterm election campaigns enter the final days.
And the number of Americans killed in the war in Iraq this month has passed 100.
We'll have complete coverage here tonight.
And a new wave of violence in Mexico. An American journalist has been killed. The Mexican government struggling to maintain order.
We'll have a special report on the rising threat to the stability of our southern neighbor.
All of that and a great deal more here straight ahead.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, news, debate and opinion for Monday, October 30th.
Live in New York, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everybody.
The midterm elections now only eight days away, and the conventional wisdom of two weeks ago, the Democrats will win an easy victory, apparently no longer applies. Republicans believe a big voter turnout on Election Day will help them keep control of Congress. But Democrats still believe they have the best chance to win control of the House for the first time in more than a decade.
President Bush today launched one of his strongest attacks yet against the Democrats on the issue of the war in Iraq. The president's speech comes as the number of Americans killed in the war this month rose to 101.
Bill Schneider is here in New York with the report on the latest opinions polls as the election race enters its final days.
Kathleen Koch tonight, traveling with President Bush, reports from Sugarland, Texas, on the president's new political offensive.
And Barbara Starr tonight reports from the Pentagon on startling new evidence that indicates the United States has thoroughly mismanaged the war in Iraq.
We turn first to Bill Schneider -- Bill.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Lou, all politics is local? Nonsense. This election is turning into a national referendum, a negative referendum.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice over): In the closing stretch of this campaign, Democrats have a couple of things going for them. One is President Bush.
Fifty-eight percent of Americans disapprove of the president's job performance. Democrats are trying to turn that opinion into votes for Democratic candidates.
Right now, Democrats have 53 percent of the likely vote across the country. A lot of that Democratic vote is being driven by opposition to President Bush.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: For Democrats, it gives them an opportunity to associate that candidate with Mr. Bush and the Iraq war.
SCHNEIDER: Forty percent of Democratic voters say they are voting to express opposition to the Republican candidate. Less than half as many Republicans say their vote is driven by opposition to the Democrat.
Another factor going for Democrats, enthusiasm. Sixty-five percent of Democrats say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting this year. That number has gone up in the past month.
Fifty-three percent of Republicans say they are more enthusiastic than usual. That number has not gone up.
The issue driving all that negative energy? Iraq. The war remains deeply unpopular.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iraq will lead to victory and glory for the United States, for the Iraqis and for the moderates around the world.
SCHNEIDER: The public is skeptical. Just over half of Americans believe the United States will never accomplish its mission in Iraq. Sixty-two percent are ready to withdraw some or all U.S. troops from Iraq. Sixty-nine percent want to see either major changes or a complete overhaul of U.S. tactics and strategy. Something the president seems aware of.
BUSH: The events of the past month have been a serious concern to me and a serious concern to the American people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: Democrats are worried about a November surprise. A verdict and possibly a sentence in the Saddam Hussein trial could come before November 7th. No one knows if that would lead to reconciliation in Iraq or more violence and instability.
DOBBS: Bill, thank you very much.
Bill Schneider.
President Bush today launched a strong verbal counterattack against Democrats who criticized his conduct of this war. President Bush said the Democratic goal is to get out of Iraq while the Republican goal is to win the war.
Kathleen Koch is traveling with President Bush, and she reports now from Sugarland, Texas -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, as you mentioned, President Bush is hitting the campaign trail hard, trying to frame the debate in this roughly one week leading up to the November 7 elections. Democrats have been very successfully exploiting voter discontent with, among other things, the Iraq war, to come within striking distance of taking the House of Representatives.
Now, Mr. Bush, at a huge get-out-the-vote rally in Statesboro, Georgia, this morning, hammered Democrats insisting that they would raise taxes, they had no plan for victory in Iraq, and that they are soft on terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: When it comes to questioning terrorists, what's the Democrats' answer? When it comes to trying the terrorists, what's the Democrats' answer? So when the Democrats ask for your vote, what's your answer?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, President Bush at this hour has just begun speaking to a massive crowd of some 7,000 in an airport hangar here in Sugarland, Texas, and this is a very, very competitive district. Both candidates in quite a tight race.
And it was initially thought that the Republican challenger who was trying to win the seat that was vacated by former House majority leader Tom DeLay simply didn't have a prayer. But now Shelley Sekula- Gibbs has come within striking distance, is in a dead heat right now with the Democrat Nick Lampson. And these are the sorts of campaign stops the president will be making right up to November 7th, the places where there are tight races around the country, Lou, where he believes he can make a difference.
DOBBS: Thank you very much.
Kathleen Koch, traveling with the president, reporting tonight from Sugarland, Texas.
Insurgents in Iraq have killed three more of our troops over the past four days. Two of our Marines were killed in Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. And a military policeman killed by an insurgent sniper in the Iraqi capital.
One hundred one of our troops have been killed in Iraq so far this month. More troops have been killed in October than in any month since January of last year.
2,814 of our troops have been killed in this war.
Insurgents today also killed at least 35 Iraqis in a series of bomb attacks in Baghdad. Nearly 100 other Iraqis were wounded. The worst attack taking place in the densely populated Sadr City area of the Iraqi capital.
Some insurgents in Iraq may be using weapons supplied by the United States, weapons that were intended for the Iraqi police and military. A new report to Congress shows the United States cannot account for nearly half a million weapons in Iraq. This report also indicates that many Iraqi police and military units are simply incapable of fighting the insurgents without American support.
Barbara Starr reports from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): U.S. and Iraqi officials are unable to fully account for hundreds of thousands of arms that were intended for the new Iraqi army and police forces, according to a report from the Pentagon's special inspector general for Iraq. In recent years, more than 500,000 weapons were issued to security services, but serial numbers could only be found for about 12,000 weapons. Some 490,000 were simply unaccounted for.
No one knows if they were stolen, being used by insurgents, or are still in the hands of Iraqi units.
STUART BOWEN, INSPECTOR GENERAL, IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION: We don't make any assumptions about where these weapons are in our audit. We just identify where the material weaknesses are.
STARR: The U.S. spent $133 million buying more than 370,000 small arms. Of that, there were no records on about 14,000.
BOWEN: My greater concern was the lack of tracking of serial numbers, but that issue has now been addressed by the multinational security transition commander in Iraq and is being done now.
STARR: The inventory includes semiautomatic pistols, assault rifles, heavy machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, all vital to helping Iraqi forces fight against insurgents, militias and death squads. The report also found in some cases there were no spare parts and no repair manuals to give to Iraqi security units.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And Lou, the inspector general is not terribly optimistic. He questions at the end of the day whether Iraqi police forces will ever be able to stand on their own any time in the near future -- Lou.
DOBBS: This report, Barbara, is a sweeping indictment of the management of the entire effort to train and to supply arms to the Iraqis and the military and police.
Who is responsible for this?
STARR: Well, that's a good question, Lou. And the question is, who's going to find out who's responsible for it as well?
What they're going to do now is try and go through the records and try and reconcile this. And it is the uncertainty, perhaps, that might be the most disturbing at this point because they simply don't know.
It may well be that the majority of these weapons, maybe even all of them, are in the hands of Iraqi security forces. But without serial numbers, without that close scrutiny of where weapons are, gun by gun, sniper rifle by sniper rifle, they don't know.
DOBBS: What the inspector general is saying, they don't know, they might easily, just as easily be in the hands of the very insurgency that the Iraqis and our troops, U.S. troops are there fighting?
STARR: All of these options are possible. They may be with Iraqi security forces, they may be in the hands of insurgents.
DOBBS: Right.
STARR: They do not know -- Lou.
DOBBS: To quote what has become a talking point for some, we do want to win this war, don't we, Barbara?
STARR: Lou, I think that's a question for every American and every viewer, and one can only assume the answer would be yes.
DOBBS: Barbara Starr, thank you very much, reporting tonight from the Pentagon.
Still ahead, we'll have live reports from the two of the tightest Senate races in these upcoming elections.
Also tonight, violence, unrest in Mexico, as the Mexican government struggling to maintain order.
We'll have that special report.
And new concerns tonight that the leftist regime in Venezuela may be trying to manipulate some of those e-voting machines to be used on November 7th in this country. We'll have that story.
And candidates on the campaign trail ignoring the war on the middle class as they focus on issues that simply have nothing to do with reality and working men and women and their families in this country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Tonight, violence and political unrest are spreading across Mexico. And the Bush administration says it is achieving "historic results" in its efforts to strengthen our border security.
Casey Wian reports tonight on Mexico's failed efforts to end violent demonstrations in the city of Oaxaca, a province where a U.S. journalist has been shot and killed.
Lisa Sylvester tonight reporting on the Bush administration's insistence that it is now "reinventing" illegal immigration enforcement.
We begin with Casey Wian -- Casey.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, just over a month before a new president takes office in Mexico, violence is spreading throughout our neighbor to the south.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN (voice over): Mexican federal police moved in to retake violence-plagued Oaxaca, since May the site of protests by teachers and others demanding the ouster of the state government. An American independent journalist was killed while covering the uprising. You can hear the bullet and his screams while his camera rolled.
IndyMedia photographer Brad Will was one of three people killed by local police in civilian clothes, according to a Reuters report. It was not confirmed by U.S. or Mexican authorities. Incredibly, the State Department says it's only hoping, not demanding, that Mexico investigate the killing.
SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: We would hope that the matter is investigated vigorously to determine who's responsible. And that in the case there were laws violated, that that person be brought to justice.
WIAN: U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza released a statement calling Will's death tragic. He also extended an advisory warning American citizens about the risks of travel to Oaxaca. It was scheduled to expire today.
A similar advisory exists for the border city of Nuevo Laredo, where drug violence is out of control. At least 17 journalists have been killed since 2000 while covering those stories.
LUCIE MORILLON, REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS: It's more and more dangerous for journalists to cover any issues related either to drug traffic or to local corruption. And these drug traffickers are politicians who have things to hide, have understood how critical it is for them to control the media.
WIAN: In the United States, protesters demonstrated outside Mexican consulates in New York and California, demanding President Vicente Fox withdraw his forces from Oaxaca. The Mexican government says they'll stay until order is restored.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: Meanwhile, the State Department downplayed concerns the violence will destabilize Mexico while a new leader is about to take office. Spokesman Sean McCormack says Mexico's government has withstood every test since the disputed presidential election in July -- Lou.
DOBBS: Including, of course, the out-of-control drug cartel violence in the northern provinces of Mexico, the province of Oaxaca, where the civil unrest has been under way since -- since May.
Did they make those exceptions?
WIAN: Apparently expectations in Washington are very low -- Lou.
DOBBS: Right.
Thank you very much, Casey Wian.
We want to point out we did invite the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, on to this broadcast tonight to discuss the issues in Mexico. Once again, Ambassador Garza was unable to make it. He has not succeeded in accepting any of our invitations to join us on this broadcast to discuss U.S. policy in Mexico and the situation in Mexico.
Our invitation is always open to the ambassador.
Homeland security officials today touted what they call historic results in fighting illegal immigration over the past year. They say they have put an end to the practice of illegal alien catch and release. Critics, however, say the Homeland Security Department still hasn't begun to take the illegal immigration crisis seriously.
Lisa Sylvester reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Secretary Michael Chertoff continues to pitch a guest worker program, arguing the best way to secure the borders is by opening them to new workers.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Without a temporary worker program, getting control of the border (INAUDIBLE), it would be very, very difficult.
SYLVESTER: Chertoff's fiscal year-end report noted that the Department of Homeland Security has removed 186,000 illegal aliens, set a new record on work site enforcement, and ended the catch and release program for non-Mexicans. Not a bad start, except that upon closer examination, the enforcement efforts have not been very robust according to DHS critics. ROSEMARY JENKS, NUMBERSUSA: There are no indicators that the Bush administration is serious about enforcing our borders.
SYLVESTER: Take ending catch and release. The reality is there are thousands of illegal aliens that are detained and still released. Forty thousand Chinese illegal aliens have been ordered to leave the country. Last year, the administration deported fewer than 600 because China won't take them back.
CHERTOFF: Well, I will tell you, we've made some progress, but we have not made as much progress as I would like to see us make.
SYLVESTER: And the government has not done enough to penalize employers.
PAUL VIRTUE, FMR. INS GENERAL COUNSEL: I think employer sanctions has been a real problem because of the proliferation of fraudulent documents.
SYLVESTER: DHS also touts the fact that more than 3,600 illegal aliens were arrested this year. True, but hundreds were released within a matter of days.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: The administration also pointed out that there were 716 arrests of employers and managers who employ and encourage illegal hiring. But considering that there are more than 10 million illegal workers, that is a tiny, tiny drop in the bucket -- Lou.
DOBBS: A tiny drop in the bucket. And Secretary Chertoff, does he really expect any person with a reasonable I.Q. to take seriously anything he just said about the success of his department in stopping illegal immigration or securing the borders?
SYLVESTER: Lou, another thing you have to take into account is the timing in all of this. It is eight days before the election. So I think a lot of people who have been following this issue take a lot of what Chertoff said with a grain of salt.
DOBBS: Or perhaps the entire shaker.
Thank you very much.
Lisa Sylvester reporting from Washington.
Just my opinion, mind you.
Coming up next, Washington is finally investigating Venezuelan ties to a leading U.S. electronic voting machine firm which we've been reporting here for months. This, after ignoring this serious threat to our democracy.
We'll have a special report.
And Congressman Duncan Hunter, the powerful chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and a leading advocate for border security, announces he's seeking higher office. He'll be among our guests here.
And we'll take you live all across the country for the very latest on the nation's most important midterm Senate races, the very tightest in the country.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: With just eight more days before our midterm elections, the United States is investigating the sale of electronic voting machine company Sequoia to a company mostly owned, as best we can determine, by Venezuelans. The company, Smartmatic, denies any connection to the anti-U.S. Chavez government.
The sale took place in March of 2005. Unbelievably, it has taken the United States government a year and a half to decide to investigate this sale.
Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here to talk today...
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's about time. Just days before the midterm elections, the U.S. Treasury Department is looking into Venezuelan ownership of an American voting machine company.
Sequoia, the Oakland, California, based voting machine company, was sold in 2005 to Smartmatic, a company 90 percent owned by three Venezuelan businessmen. Today, at a president press held by Smartmatic, the company showed charts of complicated holding companies, saying people just don't understand the corporate structure.
But some in Congress understand only too well, and in June called for a review of the sale.
REP. CAROLYN MALONEY (D), NEW YORK: I have urged Treasury twice in written requests to include a review of this company. Voting machines are central to our democracy. I feel it's a national security concern to know who owns the companies that manufacture such an important part of our democracy.
PILGRIM: Smartmatic pretends to be an all-American company, with corporate headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida. But don't let that fool you. Only 10 people work there. Five times that many work and live in Venezuela.
But Smartmatic is in denial.
JEFF BIALOS, ATTORNEY FOR SMARTMATIC & SEQUOIA: The companies are -- have been in full disclosure mode with the government. They've given the government a good deal of information. We'll give them whatever they want in this area. And the companies look forward to a very full and fair inquiry by CFIUS.
PILGRIM: Of deep concern is that the Venezuelan government is openly hostile to the United States. A government led by Hugo Chavez, who at the U.N. General Assembly railed against President Bush as the devil.
Smartmatic say the Venezuelan government is not involved in its company. But the same businessmen early in their careers received startup loans from the Venezuelan government for another of their companies. They downplayed the importance of those loans, saying they paid the money back before they bought the U.S. voting machine company.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: During today's press conference, Smartmatic was continuously asked when the CFIUS review process started and how long it had been going on. The company refused to answer that question, but they told this program months ago they were providing documents.
Now, Treasury late today confirmed the formal review has started but cannot tell us how far along they are in that process -- Lou.
DOBBS: We need considerably more transparency in the CFIUS process, or just simply to blow it up and put together something that actually works in the interest of this country altogether. But there is some -- as you look at this absurdity, at least you find some irony.
Diebold, which had been run by a man with very specific affections for the Bush administration; Sequoia now with a company that appears to have very specific affections for Hugo Chavez. There's some symmetry, if not sense, in all of that.
It doesn't do anything, of course, to make any of us feel better about what's going on with e-voting machines in this country.
The idea that we are at this stage with all of the problems that you've documented that have been demonstrated with these machines, the ties between the testing laboratories and the manufacturers, the fact that software is proprietary and that election officials wouldn't be in charge of a recount on these things, it's just mind-boggling.
PILGRIM: It's truly shocking that we're this close to the election and much of this has not been resolved.
DOBBS: Kitty, thank you very much.
Kitty Pilgrim.
Time now for some of your thoughts.
Richard in Texas wrote in to say, "Lynne Cheney's belief that our government is not broken" -- by the way, referring to our weeklong series last week on "Broken Government" here on CNN -- "when would she like us to start eating cake?" And Robert in Missouri, "Lou, your message is hitting home hard. Today I defended your name on a bathroom wall at the Flying J Truck Stop in Joplin, Missouri. Please run for president. I can shoot a quarter at 150 yards, can run computers and parallel park a semi truck. My services are yours for the asking. Please run for president. You're the only hope the 'used to be' middle class has to hope for short of civil war."
We appreciate the offer. And with those skills, you should have no trouble finding highly productive employment.
I do appreciate the offer. There's just one issue. I ain't running for anything.
E-mail us your thoughts at loudobbs.com. We'll have more of your thoughts here later in the broadcast.
Each of you whose e-mail is read here receives a copy of my new book, "War on the Middle Class".
Coming up here next, the battle for control of Congress in its final week. Our panel of top political analysts and strategists join us to tell us who looks to be advantaged at this particular point.
And an advocate for fixing our southern border announces his intention to run for the U.S. presidency. We'll be talking with Congressman Duncan Hunter.
And wedge issues drawing attention from the real problems affecting victims in the war on the middle class. That special report coming up here next.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The election just over a week away, and, tonight, the battle for control of the U.S. Senate rests on a very few key states.
Right now, the Republicans hold 55 seats, the Democrats, 44, one independent.
In Pennsylvania, Republican incumbent Senator Rick Santorum seems headed for defeat. In Missouri, it's neck and neck for incumbent Jim Talent and Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill.
We have reports tonight from Missouri and Pennsylvania, Bob Franken in Philadelphia on an incumbent who is in the battle of his life, and Candy Crowley in Saint Louis on Missouri's down-to-the-wire race.
In Pennsylvania , the numbers show a clear problem for Santorum -- polls, the newest polls, showing the incumbent trailing now by an incredible 16 points.
Bob Franken with a report from Philadelphia. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Don't let anybody tell you those polls are right. We're going to win this thing on November 7.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's the number-three-ranking Republican in the Senate, and important enough that the White House this weekend sent the more popular Bush to campaign for him.
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY: And, of course, I'm so proud to stand here with Senator Rick Santorum.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
FRANKEN: Santorum presents himself as the bulwark against terrorism and hostile world leaders, the rampart protecting conservative values.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
SANTORUM: Too often, this is what it seems like in Washington. But, to get things done, you have got to work together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOB CASEY (D), PENNSYLVANIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: You're going to see a lot of wild, desperate ads from my opponent.
FRANKEN: State Treasurer Bob Casey, the Democratic challenger, wrestles with the problems of being a favorite. For the most part, he's on message, though much lower-key than Santorum.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CASEY CAMPAIGN AD)
NARRATOR: What happened in Washington? Millions of jobs lost, the largest deficit ever, an arrogant government out of touch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: As in so many campaigns at this stage, the candidates have their themes down pat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CASEY CAMPAIGN AD)
CASEY: I'm Bob Casey, and I approve this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
SANTORUM: I'm Rick Santorum, and I approve this message.
(BELL RINGING) (END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: Well, it's about a week to go before the election, Lou, a week to go. And, of course, that's eternity in politics. But that's the time that the voters will try and pin down a result.
DOBBS: Well, it looks like at least, Bob, that Santorum is having more fun with his ads than is Bob Casey.
What is Casey's specific position, if you could, on a number of issues, including free trade, the middle class in this country, public education?
FRANKEN: Well, Bob Casey is your standard Democrat, and would probably have the issues -- he would be somebody who would say that he's strongly for the middle class.
Of course, nobody's going to say he's against the middle class. As far as free trade is concerned, you know that the Democrats use a different term, are usually aligned with labor, and they favor restrictions on trade to protect this middle class, they say.
The one departure that Casey has from his fellow Democrats, he's anti-abortion. And that causes quite a bit of concern among many people who would otherwise be very enthusiastic supporters.
DOBBS: Bob Franken, from Philadelphia, thank you very much.
In Missouri tonight, that race is locked in a dead heat. The Senate battle between Democrat Claire McCaskill and incumbent Jim Talent will go down to the wire, we're told, by those who know such things.
Candy Crowley is in Saint Louis, and has the story for us live -- Candy.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Lou, you can call it a nail-biter, a barn-burner, a dead heat. All those cliches apply.
As you noted, they are exactly even in the polls, 47 to 47. Basically, the issues here have been the economy. There are pockets of the economy here that are not doing well. They have also talked, as they have throughout the nation, about Iraq.
But there's one sort of overlaying issue that is really unknown how it's going to affect this election. And that is a stem cell research initiative that is going to be on the ballot in Missouri. Michael J. Fox, as you know, came out here and did a commercial favoring the Democrat.
The Republicans responded. The pro -- or the anti-stem-cell- initiative people responded with some local sports heroes, outlining why they're against it. What neither camp knows at this point is exactly how that stem cell initiative will affect turnout. Obviously, there are some people who believe that conservative Christians, evangelicals, who tend to oppose to amendment, will be inspired to come out, where they might otherwise sit home.
Others believe, because 51 percent of Missourians favor stem cell research, embryonic stem cell research, many believe this will help Claire McCaskill. Neither camp wants to venture exactly how it's going to work out -- Lou.
DOBBS: Candy, thank you very much -- Candy Crowley from Saint Louis, Missouri.
In Tennessee, Republican Bob Corker and Democrat Harold Ford locked in an intense, some say racially charged, contest for the seat vacated by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. A new poll shows Democrat Ford at 43 percent, Republican Corker at 45 -- the results within the margin of error. It's a dead heat -- Ford, of course, better known nationally, at least, than Corker, but that doesn't really matter much in Tennessee.
That brings us to the subject of our poll tonight: Will you be casting your vote for a specific candidate or a political party in these upcoming elections? Cast your vote, specific candidate, political party, at LouDobbs.com. We will have the results coming up here later.
Up next: Congressman Duncan Hunter, a strong proponent of border security, announcing an intention to run for president. He will be with us.
And the battle for control of the House and the Senate could come down to a few key races -- three of the best minds in politics here to interpret the latest.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Congressman Duncan Hunter has announced the first step in a run for the White House of 2008. Congressman Hunter is powerful chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
He made that announcement today in his home district of San Diego, California, joining us tonight from, where else, San Diego.
Good to have you with us.
And, first, congratulations on your announcement. Some people would say, what chance does a 26-year in Congress chairman of the House Armed Services Committee have up against folks like John McCain and -- and others? What do you say?
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R-CA), HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Well, Lou, I think the primary issues over the next several years are going to focus on national security.
And, as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, I have got one term left to -- to continue to be chairman. And I think that's -- that's an area I have devoted a lot of time to. And, further, I think that the -- the border issue is now a major issue.
And I built the border fence in San Diego, wrote the law, along with other Republicans, that would extend it 700 miles across the southwest border. I think that, now, border security is a national security issue, not simply an immigration issue.
So, I think it's a time when I can add something to the national debate. And -- and I announced today. I always go down to the waterfront, Lou, since I was elected 26 years ago. And, in late October, I tell my constituents what my plans are for the next two years. This time, I added a little something extra.
DOBBS: Well, it's quite something extra. The -- and the party professionals were shocked today.
HUNTER: That's why I didn't consult them.
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: Well, I think that's, you know, a credit to you, for not talking with the professionals.
But, at the same time, there are people saying, well, you -- you fear there might be -- and I love what a number of the savants are saying: Duncan Hunter is just doing this because he thinks that the Democrats are going to take control of Congress, and you needed something to do for the next two years.
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: How do you react to that?
Well, you know, that's -- that's nuts, because, if I had hidden this thing -- and I decided some time ago to run for the presidency...
DOBBS: Right.
HUNTER: ... to start the preparations for running. That's what we're doing. We're going to start the preparations.
If I had hidden it from my voters until after the election, then, I would be criticized for hiding it. So, there's never a good time.
DOBBS: Right.
HUNTER: But I fully intend to be chairman. And -- and I think that helps the campaign a lot, because that allows me to talk to great folks like you about things like North Korea, Iran...
DOBBS: Right. HUNTER: ... the emergence of China as a -- as a superpower, in the wake of the Soviet Union, and how the United States needs to position its defenses.
DOBBS: Right.
HUNTER: And, incidentally, Lou, that's the trademark of the Republican Party over the next seven days.
The one thing that we have done that has always been our trademark, we have built a national security apparatus...
DOBBS: Right.
HUNTER: ... Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, that is outstanding, that is second to none.
DOBBS: Well, you...
HUNTER: ... that is much stronger than it was under the Clinton administration. I think the voters will appreciate that on next Tuesday.
DOBBS: Well, we can also -- you -- talking to folks like me, you're also going to get asked questions like this one. You're accused of taking some $46,000 from the very same defense contractors that were turning money over to Duke Cunningham, who's now sitting in prison.
How do you respond to those critics that suggest something more there?
HUNTER: Well, Lou, what always happens, you open up the doors to a fund-raiser, and -- and 1,000 folks come through it. There's nobody's sitting there with a crystal ball, saying, eight years from now, this guy that is contributing to you...
DOBBS: Right.
HUNTER: ... will be in trouble. So, you open up those doors, and folks come in.
But I would also say this. General Dynamics was probably my biggest fund-raiser over the years, based in San Diego.
DOBBS: Right.
HUNTER: I killed their biggest program at one time, the Seawolf program, because I thought it was too expensive for the taxpayers.
DOBBS: Right.
HUNTER: Boeing was probably my second biggest contributor, and I killed their biggest program at one time, got overridden by my colleagues from the Armed Services Committee.
DOBBS: Congressman...
(CROSSTALK)
HUNTER: But I do what I think is right for the country, Lou, and let the chips fall where they may.
DOBBS: Well, it's going to take a lot of money to run for president. You may have disadvantaged yourself significantly there, Congressman.
HUNTER: Well, Lou, I'm going to go out and -- and lay out the principles I believe in. And
DOBBS: Right.
HUNTER: And, incidentally, I believe in the American defense apparatus, products for our defense, like ships and planes, should be made by Americans. That's going to be a major part of this campaign.
DOBBS: Well...
HUNTER: I'm going to lay those things out. And if folks -- if folks think that's a good philosophy, then -- then, I have got a good chance.
DOBBS: And, as soon as you incorporate the middle class, working men and women, into that entire philosophy, you know, that's going to -- it sounds like you might just have yourself one compelling platform there, as you move forward into exploring running for the president -- presidency.
And we congratulate you on your decision, and wish you all the best.
HUNTER: Hey, thank you very much, Lou.
DOBBS: Duncan Hunter, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, congressman from the home -- home state of California, home city, San Diego, California.
Coming up next: The youngest secretary of the treasury ever appointed by Ronald Reagan, now Bay Buchanan heads Team America, a group supporting candidates who will establish border security. She is our guest here.
And next, our panel of top-notch political analysts and strategists, they are going to tell us which party has the edge right now in the battle for control of Congress.
Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Well, the president signed the Secure Fence Act -- attention tonight turning to implementing the plans to secure our border. Bay Buchanan is the chairman of Team America, a political action committee, a strong advocate for securing our borders, of course, and supporting candidates who she believes will be helpful in that regard.
Let's start out with the -- your principal candidates that you have been trying to help on this issue.
BAY BUCHANAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Randy Graf, obviously, in an open race out there in Arizona.
DOBBS: The 8th District in Arizona.
BUCHANAN: Yes.
A very tough race. The demographics are not good for him. But he's running hard. He's closed it to about -- he was down as much as 17, 18 points. He's closed it now to eight. He's got a week to go, and he's still working hard. But the guy would be an outstanding congressman.
DOBBS: All right.
The latest poll we have got here shows 10 percent right now. This is, by the way -- I mean, Graf has pulled off something, in point of fact -- the president against him...
BUCHANAN: Exactly.
DOBBS: ... before he was for, I think is the way it goes, for border security.
Who else are you working for right now?
BUCHANAN: John Hostettler is in Indiana.
DOBBS: Right.
BUCHANAN: He's a congressman, one of the finest congressman.
DOBBS: Right.
BUCHANAN: Very, very principled. And he's always had tough races. And, again, he's in another tough race. So, we're going out.
In fact, Tom Tancredo and I are both going to be there tomorrow with a couple rallies for him, to try to help him out.
We have a race, Ron Lewis, we're looking in, in Kentucky.
DOBBS: Right.
BUCHANAN: He's another congressman, very solid. That race is closing, but we think we're going to win that one. We have a number of races out there that...
DOBBS: Well, let's turn to the president's -- I think some partisan Democrats would suggest it was a flip-flop. Some Republicans would suggest it was a conversion.
But signing the fence bill, when he had said it was only going to -- it was comprehensive immigration reform or nothing, what do you make of it?
BUCHANAN: Well, the fence is something, obviously, we support. I think there's -- it's progress. It's not enough. It's -- certainly, alone will not do the job.
But it's progress. We have got Congress, senators, congressmen voting for a fence -- voting for a secure border. What worries me, though, is, you keep hearing, well, it's authorizing it, but we certainly haven't funded it.
DOBBS: Right.
BUCHANAN: You hear people saying it's a symbolic gesture.
That's the height of hypocrisy, of duplicity in that town, is to suggest that this -- this whole -- is an act, in essence, it's a -- you know, a campaign ploy here, a prop.
DOBBS: Are you suggesting it isn't?
BUCHANAN: I would -- I do know, on the part of House Republicans -- you're the cynic of the two of us, Lou.
(LAUGHTER)
BUCHANAN: The House Republicans are serious. They are absolutely -- you take Duncan Hunter. You just spoke to him. He...
DOBBS: I'm a skeptic. I'm a skeptic, Bay.
(LAUGHTER)
BUCHANAN: I wonder. I think you have gone over the line occasionally.
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: No.
BUCHANAN: For good reason, I might add.
But, no, I think it's extremely important to know that more and more people in Washington are coming to the same conclusion as the people in this country -- that is, they want a secure border.
DOBBS: Duncan Hunter says he wants to be president. What do you think of the idea? You're a Republican.
BUCHANAN: I am a Republican.
Duncan is a very good man. He's solid on all of the issues. I -- I would support his candidacy. I have to see other candidates who are getting in there.
DOBBS: Even against John McCain?
BUCHANAN: Oh, my gosh.
(LAUGHTER)
BUCHANAN: I would be out there on the front lines, working for Mr. Hunter on that occasion.
DOBBS: Bay Buchanan, great to have you here.
BUCHANAN: Good to be with you, always.
DOBBS: Thank you.
Still ahead here, I will be joined by three of the country's best political analysts, strategists. They're going to tell us exactly what to expect here over the next eight days.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Coming up shortly here on CNN, a special expanded edition of "SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer and Paula Zahn in our New York election headquarters -- Wolf, Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Lou. Glad to have you here.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Good to be with you Paula.
ZAHN: In the northern part of the country here.
Coming up, countdown: democracy -- President Bush on the campaign trail. Some Republicans are running away from the commander in chief -- others relying on his help. Find out why his support seems to cut both ways in this campaign.
BLITZER: And we're also going to have more pull, Paula, on Vice President Dick Cheney. He called my interview with his wife -- and I'm quoting now -- a "slap-down." We're going to take a closer look at why her novel of decades ago is still causing some controversy in this current campaign.
ZAHN: So, who slapped who?
BLITZER: We will see.
ZAHN: It's worth watching.
Coming up also, the Michael J. Fox factor -- find out how the actor-turned-activist could swing the vote in a key battleground state.
And election watch -- Lou, we're going to find out why ties between an electronic voting company and Venezuela raising eyebrows. I know you have been covering that story as well. We're going to have some more on that developing story.
Lou, a two-hour "SITUATION ROOM," that's coming up.
DOBBS: I cannot get enough of Wolf Blitzer and Paula Zahn. And I look forward to it.
Wolf, by the way, if -- if the vice president says that that was a slap-down, is he the same fellow that was talking about Iraq as a slam-dunk?
BLITZER: George Tenet, to be precise, he was the one who told the president it was a slam-dunk...
DOBBS: Yes.
BLITZER: ... the weapons of mass destruction. Just want to be precise in who said it was a slam-dunk.
DOBBS: Exactly. And who said it was a slap-down? Hardly.
Thank you very much, Wolf. Look forward to it.
Thank you, Paula.
Joining me now, former White House political director, Republican strategist Ed Rollins, "New York Daily News" columnist Errol Louis, Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman.
Gentlemen, good to have you with us.
What is this about slap-downs over all of this stuff? Do you want to win?
What in the world is going on here, Robert Zimmerman?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It's called defensive politics.
When you see George W. Bush going into the most conservative Republican territory, trying to stir up the base, it means that swing districts don't want him there.
DOBBS: Well, let's take a look at a few races.
Let's start -- I'm going to start, if I may, first with New Jersey, because this is interesting. I saw one of the most tortured endorsements by "The New York Times" this morning. I don't know about you guys, but, I mean, if that's an endorsement, "New York Times," please, don't ever endorse me."
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: In New Jersey, the latest poll shows Democrat Bob Menendez, the incumbent, widening his lead over Republican Tom Kean to 48 vs. 42 percent. The undecided votes weigh in at 7 percent.
Which way is it going to swing, Errol?
ERROL LOUIS, COLUMNIST, "THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": I think it's going to -- you have to bet on the incumbent in a case like this.
You have got a lot of spillover, actually. You know, they're in two markets, in Philadelphia and New York, as far as television. So, they're seeing -- voters down there are seeing a lot of Democratic ads about not just this race, but all of the Democratic stuff happening in New York and in Pennsylvania as well.
DOBBS: Is it breaking down, Ed, to a decision for voters in New Jersey between the family of privilege, in the form of Tom Kean Jr., and a sitting senator who is under federal investigation?
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think a lot of -- a lot of senators have been under federal investigation that are Democrats in the state. So, it's kind of business as usual.
I think, to a certain extent...
(LAUGHTER)
ROLLINS: Democrats.
ZIMMERMAN: I heard you, Ed.
ROLLINS: I think there's -- I think there's -- that's their water torture.
(CROSSTALK)
ROLLINS: I think, to a certain extent, this is still a close race. This is still a race that's not decided yet. I would not be shocked, at the end of the day, if the Democrats win it. But it's still -- it's still a close race.
DOBBS: Let's go to the Missouri race between McCaskill and Talent -- the latest poll showing them in an absolutely dead heat, if we have got that up. I mean, that's as -- well, 47-47.
It doesn't leave much room for undecideds, does it, Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: But it doesn't test the motivated voter.
DOBBS: Right.
ZIMMERMAN: You know, when you read those polls, remember, the pollster is going to the voter.
In an election, the voter has got to go the polls. And every poll that has been conducted shows the Democratic voter is much more motivated to turn out, and a Republican voter is much more suppressed, especially the right-wing Republican voter, who's antagonized by the fiscal spending, the reckless fiscal spending, of the Bush administration, by their failure to aggressively..
(LAUGHTER)
ZIMMERMAN: These are my...
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: That seemed like a talking point.
(CROSSTALK)
ZIMMERMAN: It might have been. I working on...
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
ROLLINS: These are his talking points.
But let me just say -- let me just tell you something.
DOBBS: so, we're going to move to your talking points; is that correct, Ed?
ROLLINS: No. I don't -- I don't -- I don't have talking points.
(CROSSTALK)
ZIMMERMAN: We both have facts, Ed.
ROLLINS: The White House does not give me talking points.
The bottom line, though, is, Republicans don't want Nancy Pelosi. They don't -- the Democrats waved the victory flag too soon. And there's a lot of Republicans who have now got their backs up. The combination of the New Jersey gay marriage court decision last week has got a lot of people worked up. The stem cell situation in Missouri is certainly going to be something that's going to drive -- so, this is a race -- this is the most divided state in the country today.
And it's going to come down to late at night. And that's going to probably decide the Senate.
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: All right.
What -- I want to just show you something that -- if we could, because we were fascinated by the number of prominent conservative voices, and you hear some of the same talking points, the same language. And, so, we wanted to share this with you, and see if any of it resonated with you, you at home, and, gentlemen, of course, you as well.
I would like you to weigh in on this, if we -- if we could hear that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE SITUATION ROOM")
LYNNE CHENEY, WIFE OF VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: Do you want us to win?
HUNTER: Does CNN want America to win this thing?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN")
BILL O'REILLY, HOST, "THE O'REILLY FACTOR": Do you want right now -- do you want the United States to win in Iraq?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: All right.
Errol, do you want us to win in Iraq?
LOUIS: Well, sure, but that's not really what we're going to be voting on next week. And I think that's sort of the problem.
You know, you have got -- the Republicans are trying to define it and sort of bring it down to that kind of yes/no choice. But you have got a lot of other different issues. As you well know, there are people who are worried about paying their mortgage, who are worried about their kid's education.
DOBBS: You bet.
LOUIS: And to the extent that Republicans can make it a yes/no thing, they have a chance. And that's what they're trying to do with their base.
On the other hand, the Democrats have an interesting kind of strategy. There's going to be a big conference call tomorrow, where they're trying to sort of talk about possible voter fraud and -- and try to rile up their base over perceived...
DOBBS: The Democrats suggesting such a thing?
LOUIS: Well, they're suggesting that there...
DOBBS: Outlandish. Outrageous.
(LAUGHTER)
LOUIS: They're suggesting there may have been some problems in 2000 and 2004.
DOBBS: And, hopefully, there won't be a repeat of those problems.
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: But the possibility is -- I mean, let's be very straightforward here. As we have been reporting, there is the potential for even greater problems...
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: ... this time than anything we have ever seen.
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: And that's...
(CROSSTALK)
ROLLINS: District by district -- I mean, first of all, presidential and a statewide race, it's -- it's a lot different.
But you can -- you can steal elections congressional district by congressional district. And I have seen it in the past. And you're going to see a lot of races decided by a couple hundred votes here. So, these things may go on for weeks before the recounts are done. And there's a lot of -- a lot of potential for mischief.
DOBBS: And the madness is, we may have to call Sequoia or Diebold to find out what their software says -- tells us about the recount.
I mean, isn't that a comfortable position?
(CROSSTALK)
ROLLINS: We may have to call Chavez in Venezuela to find out...
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: Hugo, we have a question.
(LAUGHTER)
ZIMMERMAN: The bottom line is, there's no excuse for the complete lack of preparedness of our election process in this, as we approach this midterm.
And you know something? We were talking before about talking points. The bottom line is, this White House does not have the credibility to ask the question about -- or to ask the question, "Do we want to win in Iraq?" because they have not defined what victory is.
DOBBS: All right.
Well, Lynne Cheney, Duncan Hunter and Bill O'Reilly, do you think it's a coincidence, Errol, that they all asked the same question: Do you want to win in...
(CROSSTALK)
LOUIS: Well, no. No. I mean, it -- it's effective. It's effective.
ZIMMERMAN: I think it's totally ineffective, because, at the end of the day, they're not running on their record. They're attacking Michael J. Fox over his illness.
They're attacking -- they're attacking, in Tennessee, Harold Ford, because he's a single man who dates women and goes to football games. And they're attacking Jim Webb because he writes fiction books. That's because they can't run on their record.
DOBBS: Ed, you don't get the last word tonight.
We thank you.
Robert Zimmerman, you did.
Errol, thanks for being here.
Ed, thank you.
ROLLINS: Water torture for him.
DOBBS: Water torture for...
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
LOUIS: No-brainer.
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: Slam-dunk. We're through with that.
We hope the polls -- again, thank you, gentlemen.
We hope the polls will be working well on November 7 better than our poll tonight. I'm embarrassed to tell you that we have experienced what are called technical difficulties. We cannot turn to Sequoia or Diebold or anyone else. We apologize to you. We will have the results for you tomorrow.
Thanks for being with us tonight. For all of us here, thanks for watching. Good night from New York.
Now our special expanded edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer and Paula Zahn in CNN's New York election headquarters -- Wolf, Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Lou.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
