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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Bush: United States Will Prevail in the War; Senate Grilling for Iraq Study Group; Bill Richardson Blasts Border Fence; Cisco Systems To Triple Workforce In India; Federal Government Telling City of Port Chester, New York, To Change The Way It Elects officials;
Aired December 07, 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, President Bush admits it's bad in Iraq but insists the United States will prevail. We'll have a live report from the White House tonight. Two distinguished former military commanders join me to assess future U.S. strategy.
And the open borders lobby winning a powerful new recruit. Governor Bill Richardson stepping up, outspoken, full-throated, calling on Congress to scrap plans for a 700-mile border fence. The governor says efforts to secure our borders and ports are nothing more than demagoguery.
We'll have that special report.
And a few thoughts, a lot more. All the day's news straight ahead here tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, news, debate and opinion for Thursday, December 7th.
Live in New York, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everybody.
President Bush today acknowledged what many of his critics have been saying for months, if not years, that it is "bad in Iraq." President Bush said the United States needs a new approach in this war, and he promised to address the nation about Iraq, and soon.
The president's remarks come one day after the Iraq Study Group recommended major changes. Tonight there are concerns that one of those recommendations, increasing the number of U.S. advisers, could actually leave many of our troops in harm's way.
Suzanne Malveaux reports from the White House tonight on the news conference today by President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Dana Bash reports from Capitol Hill on today's Senate testimony by the top members of the Iraq Study Group.
And Jamie McIntyre reports tonight from the Pentagon on fears that U.S. advisers could be drawn into an all-out civil war in Iraq.
We turn first to Suzanne Malveaux at the White House -- Suzanne. SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, of course British Prime Minister Tony Blair has two months left. President Bush, two years. What happens in Iraq will largely determine both leaders' legacies, so while the two men stood side by side going into this war, they emphasized today that together they stand side by side trying to find a way out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): It's probably the closest you'll get from this president to admitting failure.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I thought we would succeed quicker than we did, and I am disappointed by the pace of success.
MALVEAUX: The bipartisan Iraq Study Group described the situation in Iraq as grave and deteriorating. The president's incoming secretary of defense said the U.S. was not winning. For Mr. Bush, it's not easy to admit mistakes.
BUSH: It's a difficult moment for America and Great Britain.
MALVEAUX: But perhaps now more than ever people want to know, is he in denial? Does he get it?
BUSH: It's bad in Iraq. Does that help?
MALVEAUX: It was typical Bush, use humor to throw off the scent. Then a stab at formality to reassert his authority.
BUSH: Make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is, sir. I talked to the families who died.
MALVEAUX: Then, as always with the zingers, came the appreciation.
BUSH: And so -- no, I appreciate your question. I appreciate -- and you can tell I feel strongly about making sure you understand that I understand it's tough.
MALVEAUX: But with pressing...
QUESTION: Do you acknowledge that your approach has failed?
MALVEAUX: ... and more pressing...
QUESTION: Are you capable of changing course perhaps in the next few weeks?
MALVEAUX: ... Mr. Bush relented.
BUSH: I do know that we have not succeeded as fast as we wanted to succeed. I do understand that progress is not as rapid as I had hoped. MALVEAUX: President Bush and his closest ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, have stood shoulder to shoulder on the Iraq war since the very beginning. Critics calling Mr. Bush "the cowboy" for stubbornly leading the charge, and Mr. Blair "the poodle" for obediently following.
But three years since the U.S. invasion, the two are still adamant their Iraq mission is sound. President Bush didn't just drink the Kool-Aid, he made it. But perhaps now it's a little less sweet.
BUSH: And I believe I know how important it is to prevail. I believe we will prevail.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Now, I think the vision is absolutely correct. What we've got to do now -- and this is exactly why the president is talking about the way forward -- is that we've got to get the right way forward.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Now, President Bush said that both he and the prime minister read the Iraq Study Group report in its entirety, but, of course, reading it and adopting it are two different things. The president says he is also going to look at internal reviews from the Pentagon, the State Department and the National Security Council before making any decisions, and then the next couple of weeks is when he will address the nation about his plan -- Lou.
DOBBS: Suzanne, thank you very much.
Suzanne Malveaux from the White House.
The chairmen of the Iraq Study Group, James Baker, and the co- chairman, Lee Hamilton, today faced a grilling on Capitol Hill. Senators expressing serious concerns about some of the group's recommendations. Particularly the idea that the United States should begin talks with Syria and Iran.
Dana Bash reports from Capitol Hill -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, 24 hours ago most of what we heard from members of Congress was praise for the Iraq Study Group's report, welcoming its ideas. And now what we're hearing, now that they've actually read the report, is some tough questioning and criticism from lawmakers in both parties.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): From the Republican chairman of the Iraq Study Group, a warning. If the president accepts some but not all of their key recommendations to fix Iraq, the plan won't work.
JAMES BAKER, IRAQ STUDY GROUP CO-CHAIR: I hope we don't treat this like a fruit salad and say, I like this, but I don't like that; I like this, but I don't like that. BASH: But Jim Baker's appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee brought ample proof Republicans and Democrats in Congress have just as many doubts as the White House about some of the biggest recommendations. Especially engaging Iran and Syria.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D-CT), SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I am skeptical that it's realistic to think that Iran wants to help the United States succeed in Iraq. They are, after all, supporting Hezbollah, which gathers people in the square in Beirut to shout, "Death to America!"
BASH: Baker said he met with a senior Iranian official, with the White House blessing, as part of the review.
BAKER: And they, in effect, said, we're not -- we would not be inclined to help you this time around.
BASH: Still, he and his Democratic co-chairman said in their view it's worth a try.
LEE HAMILTON, IRAQ STUDY GROUP CO-CHAIR: Syria and Iran have very great influence over events within Iraq. Particularly Iran, but also Syria. And I just don't think you can avoid that.
BASH: On the military side, the report calls for phasing out the U.S. combat role in Iraq by 2008 and rejects an idea championed by Senator John McCain to add more U.S. troops because they aren't available.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: There's only one thing worse than an overstressed Army and Marine Corps, and that's a defeated Army and Marine Corps. We saw that in 1973. I think there's a disconnect between what you are recommending and the situation on the ground.
BASH: Skepticism, too, of a recommendation to embed more U.S. troops with Iraqi units as part of accelerated training.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now, both Lee Hamilton and James Baker said again today how urgent it is for Republicans and Democrats to work together on any new approach in Iraq, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said, Lou, how imperative it is for the president to consult with them before he decides on the way forward in Iraq -- Lou.
DOBBS: The way forward again. And do you think it's clear there on Capitol Hill that the Iraq Study Group -- the title of the report is "The Way Forward," but is it a way forward in the views of those you are talking with on Capitol Hill?
BASH: Well, they think it's a start. You know, as we heard in this hearing today, Lou, nothing is perfect. There were a lot of questions.
DOBBS: Right. BASH: As I said, criticism of some specifics whether it comes to the diplomatic effort, to the military effort. But again, anything at this point, especially when you talk to Republicans, that could help them get out of the mess that they admit that they are in Iraq is certainly welcome here.
DOBBS: Yes. Unfortunately, it's not a partisan mess. It's a mess that we're all in.
Thank you, very much.
BASH: Thank you.
DOBBS: Dana Bash, from Capitol Hill.
As Dana reported, there is rising concern tonight about the Iraq Study Group's suggestion that thousands more of our troops could serve as advisers in Iraq. Many Iraqi troops and police units are divided along sectarian lines, and there are fears our troops could be drawn into what would be an all-out civil war.
Jamie McIntyre now reports from the Pentagon -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, there was considerable skepticism expressed by senators on the Armed Services Committee to the idea that the U.S. could withdraw most of the 70,000 front-line combat troops from Iraq in just over a year and not leave the remaining force of trainers and support troops in the precarious situation. Especially because no one here thinks the Iraqi troops will be ready to provide real security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Withdraw the troops and then still have thousands of American soldiers embedded in Iraqi units that are of questionable value or loyalty I think puts at risk a large number of American military advisers.
HAMILTON: You are absolutely right about that. There are risks there. And if you put American forces right into the middle of this sectarian violence, working with Iraqi forces, those young men and perhaps young women, too, are in a place of danger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, the idea is to leave enough combat forces there to protect the trainers and logistic support units, but Hamilton said there's no escaping the fact that it's a dangerous and risky plan. The panel ruled out sending significantly more U.S. troops to Iraq because they said the U.S. military simply isn't big enough to support that.
That frustrated Senator John McCain, who said it should alarm Americans that with 300 million people it can't send reinforcements in large numbers. Both Hamilton and co-chairman Jim Hamilton (sic) -- Jim Baker said they would support an increase in the size of the U.S. military, and Baker added there are some 20,000 U.S. troops in reserve in Germany and Kuwait that could be surged to Baghdad, and he noted that the recommendation for withdrawal was conditioned on "unexpected developments in the security situation on the ground."
Unfortunately, Lou, unexpected developments seems to describe what we see in Iraq almost every day.
DOBBS: Yes. And potentially around the world.
I mean, do people -- do those folks in Washington, Jamie, and particularly in that building in which you are reporting from, do they have any idea how absurd they look to the rest of this nation? As you say, 300 million Americans. We have a standing military the same size as we had in 1941 before December 7th and the Japanese attacked.
What sense is any of this making?
MCINTYRE: Well, you know, we also have a much smaller military than we had just 10 years ago, when the big downsizing happened. You know, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld argued all along that to increase the size of the military would take several years. But the problem is, now we're several years past that, and they are really feeling the strain on the U.S. military, and you're beginning to see a consensus from the military leaders, including the Marine Corps commandant, the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, many members of Capitol Hill, and perhaps the incoming defense secretary that, yes, maybe the U.S. military needs to be a lot bigger if you are going to have this kind of a commitment around the world.
DOBBS: And, in all respect, I mean, we're talking about eight months. There seems to be no sense of urgency in that city whatsoever.
We have, as you report day in and day out, 140,000 of our troops in harm's way being wounded and killed almost every day, and the idea that an Iraq Study Group takes eight months to deliver what has been a straightforward assessment in which 800 -- 608 of our troops were killed during that eight months, I mean, at some point there has to be an awareness, an understanding that this is -- this is an urgent business.
MCINTYRE: Well, I think there -- I think there is, Lou. I mean, we did hear from Lee Hamilton that they were well aware that events could overtake their recommendations.
He talked today about actions that need to be taken not in months, not in weeks, but in days, because he said the situation is changing that fast. So there is a sense of urgency now. I guess your question is why there hasn't been as much urgency in the past, and, you know, that's not something I can really answer.
DOBBS: I'll take urgency now, and I will hope that your -- your assessment is the correct one. I'm sure that Senator John McCain, at this point his frustration is being felt by millions of Americans when the nation that is the world's -- presumably the world's only superpower cannot come to terms with -- with a sufficiently large military to avoid the strains and the stresses that our men and women in uniform have been undergoing for the past almost four years now.
Jamie, thank you very much. Jamie McIntyre from the Pentagon.
Insurgents in Iraq have killed three more of our troops. One of those soldiers killed in a firefight in Ramadi, the capital of Al Anbar, west of Baghdad.
The military destroyed several buildings used as cover by the enemy. Fourteen insurgents were killed in that battle.
Thirty-two of our troops have been killed in Iraq so far this month. 2,922 of our troops have been killed since the beginning of the war. 22,057 wounded, 9,890 of them so seriously they could not return to duty in three days.
Still ahead here, a new deal involving Dubai Ports World. New controversy about port security and whether or not we will ever be able to provide port and border security to a vulnerable nation. We'll have that special report.
And a border state governor who may run for the White House blasting plans for that 700-mile border fence. Is he trying to appease the illegal alien lobby, or perhaps accommodate the Mexican government? We'll find out.
We'll have that story.
And our ruling elites remain indifferent as the already huge gap between the rich and the poor in this country widens even further. Our special report, "War on the Middle Class," upcoming.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The American people demanded it. Congress voted for it. The president even signed it. But today, New Mexico's governor, Bill Richardson, blasted plans to build a fence along our southern border with Mexico.
At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security today asked a company we couldn't trust to run our ports to protect us from smuggled nuclear weapons.
Lisa Sylvester reports on Governor Bill Richardson's mixed messages on border security.
Jeanne Meserve reports on the government's latest plan for port security. The same people who bring you border security.
We begin with Lisa Sylvester in Washington -- Lisa.
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, Governor Bill Richardson from New Mexico sometimes talks tough on border enforcement. Other times, like today, he comes across as a fierce defender of open borders. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER (voice-over): New Mexico governor Bill Richardson says the new Democratic Congress's first order of business should be scrapping the border fence because it will hurt U.S.-Mexico relations. At a speech at Georgetown University, Richardson also warned the Mexican government won't help curb illegal immigration if the United States builds "a Berlin-style wall."
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: The Congress should first abandon the fence, lock, stock and barrel.
SYLVESTER: Richardson is considered to be a Democratic president contender for '08. He says he is for abandoning the boarder fence, for a guest worker program, and for putting illegal aliens on a path to citizenship. The enforcement-only bill passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year Richardson ripped as a monument to demagoguery.
RICHARDSON: I hope those demagogues learned their lesson and that sensible senators and congressmen from both parties can now come together and address this real problem with real solutions.
SYLVESTER: Richardson's accommodating stance toward illegal aliens is at odds with an earlier position in which he declared a state of emergency for New Mexico over illegal immigration and backed sending the National Guard to the border. Critics say this speech is a nod to Mexico, which has been heavily lobbying against the fence.
JOHN KEELEY, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: I think there's a remarkable level of deference to Mexico City coming from Washington, D.C. And not just the State Department, but important key political leaders, whether it's President Bush or border governors.
SYLVESTER: As the presidential election season gears up, Richardson has his eye on the Democratic primary, and so he's straddling the political fence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: Richardson advocates doubling the number of border agents and setting up an employment verification system. But he also favors setting up a guest worker program that would allow foreign workers to stay in the United States for up to six years.
One question he does not answer, though, is, how will you get those workers to leave after six years if they're not willing to leave now -- Lou.
DOBBS: Well, Lisa, it's a good question. It's a question, by the way, that none of the amnesty advocates are able to answer, nor do they have any intention.
It's really a remarkable position. No fence, a guest worker program, and amnesty. Did the governor speak to the issue of the need for security along our borders and in our ports? Did he speak to the fact that Mexico is now the source of the principal drugs entering this country, the majority of those drugs entering this country?
SYLVESTER: He clearly favors the guest worker and the amnesty provisions. He did mention a couple of those items, some border security measures. But here you've got governor -- Governor Richardson, who is now the candidate, who is essentially looking for some political support and some friends in corporate America -- Lou.
DOBBS: Did he also point out that one out of seven Mexican laborers is now working in the United States?
SYLVESTER: He did not mention that, Lou.
DOBBS: I wonder why. All right.
Thank you very much.
Lisa Sylvester.
That brings us to the subject of our poll tonight. Do you believe, as Governor Richardson suggests, that efforts to our secure our borders and our ports are nothing more than demagoguery? Yes or no?
Please cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll have the results here later.
Some of the 363 members of the U.S. Congress who did vote for that fence are something less than pleased tonight with the governor's contention that the fence is an assault on freedom. Congressman Duncan Hunter from southern California, the primary force behind a stretch of fencing in San Diego, a fence that has been effective in stopping illegal aliens and stopping drug-related violence told us, "Contrary to Governor Richardson's opinion, the no-mans-land of violence and smuggling that constitutes the border is not a symbol of freedom."
And Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, also of California said, "While the proposed fence along the southern border will not totally solve the problem, it is a step in the right direction and symbolizes America's resolve to control our own border."
Congressman Hunter is one of the strongest congressional supporters of the border fence. Congressman Hunter would like to debate the border fence issue, in fact, on this broadcast with Governor Richardson.
We have called Governor Richardson. We're willing to devote a third of this broadcast, maybe half of this broadcast, to such a debate in which both men would have equal time, and we're waiting to hear from Governor Richardson.
The Department of Homeland Security today announced a new security plan to inspect potentially dangerous cargo before it reaches this country. One of the companies chosen to protect us is Dubai Ports World, the company that's being forced to give up control of its U.S. port facilities.
Jeanne Meserve reports now on the Homeland Security Department's latest announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: There's one point I want to make 100 percent crystal clear. We will not outsource our security.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a preemptive strike by the secretary of Homeland Security, an effort to squelch congressional criticism before it erupted over the fact that Dubai-owned DP World operates three ports involved in the new cargo security program that will screen containers for radiation in foreign ports before they're shipped to the U.S.
CHERTOFF: The bottom line is this: If you want to do security overseas, you've got to work with foreign governments and foreign companies because they own the ports.
MESERVE: There were high-decibel protests on Capitol Hill when DP World purchased six port facilities in the U.S. earlier this year. Congressman Peter King says he will take a close look at the new cargo program, but has been assured that DP World will not have access to sensitive information, algorithms, or software.
In the pilot program, containers in six foreign ports will be screened for radiation, then x-rayed to pick up something the first machine might miss, shielded nuclear material. That information will be relayed to Customs and Border Protection personnel on scene or at the National Targeting Center. If they see a threat or have a question, the container will be pulled and inspected by foreign authorities. CBP, however, will watch on site or via streaming video.
CHERTOFF: In the end, the go, no-go decision rests with our guys sitting in a CBP office, and if they have any doubt about how this has been resolved, they're going to say time out, it doesn't come in.
MESERVE: When the pilot is fully operational, just seven percent of the cargo coming into the U.S. will be screened. DHS plans to expand the program over time, but some say 100 percent screening of cargo shouldn't wait.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Others think the entire approach is misguided. They say more money and attention should be devoted to keeping nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists in the first place -- Lou.
DOBBS: Well, one hopes that all of those approaches are being carried out by this government and other governments. Jeanne, to get clear about a couple of things, Michael Chertoff, the secretary of Homeland Security, seven percent will be inspected once this deal is -- this program is implemented against what percent now?
MESERVE: Well, at the present time there is scattered radiation screening. I don't have the precise number on how many are screened out there, but they've upped the number significantly here in the United States. I think they're anticipating that they'll be screened 100 percent at U.S. ports by the end of next year.
DOBBS: And Homeland Security will be actually contracting with Dubai Ports World?
MESERVE: Well, it's a little -- it's a little difficult to say. The equipment is actually being provided by CBP and DOE, but it's being run by those foreign ports because it's their jurisdictional issues. But the U.S. will be observing all this through cameras or on-site inspectors.
DOBBS: Does Michael Chertoff, do you suppose -- and you may consider this a rhetorical question, if you wish, if it makes you uncomfortable. But do you suppose that Michael Chertoff understands that this government could work government to government rather than government to government-owned company?
MESERVE: Well, in fact, it is working government to government. At that press conference today was a representative of the State Department and representatives of some of the governments whose ports are involved in this deal. It is, in fact, government to government. It is also government to business.
DOBBS: It's that latter part that is the sticking point, isn't it?
Jeanne Meserve, thank you for that excellent report. We appreciate it.
MESERVE: You bet.
DOBBS: The deal that drew outrage across this country, due in large part to some of our reporting here, may be nearing, believe it or not, a conclusion and a positive one. DP World, in a letter to Congress, now says it's expecting final bids for its U.S. port facilities soon.
The bidders, who have not been identified, are all American, we are told. The original deal that allowed the Dubai-owned company to take over operations at about 20 of our port facilities first reported on this broadcast back in February.
Following the uproar in Congress and Congress hearing from you and Americans across the country, DP World said it would sell its port operations to a U.S.-owned company. We are now told that is happening as we speak. Coming up next, one U.S. company adding 4,000 high-technology jobs. They're just not adding them here. We'll have that report in our "War on the Middle Class" special report.
The Justice Department ordering one New York village to change the way it elects its officials. We'll have that report.
And the space shuttle scheduled for its first nighttime launch since 2003. We'll bring you the latest.
And stay with us tonight, 7:00 p.m. Eastern here. We'll bring you a "War on the Middle Class" special town hall meeting from Buffalo, New York, as we talk with the working men and women there and their community leaders about what is a struggle that amounts to simply a war on working men and women and their families, our middle class.
7:00 p.m. here on CNN tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Anger tonight over a plan by Cisco Systems, a U.S. company, to triple its workforce in India. In the past, companies excused their outsourcing by saying high-level jobs would remain in this country. No longer. Now, research and development and other high-tech computer jobs are moving rapidly overseas. Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): India will be the new Cisco globalization center east, that announcement by Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers on a two-day visit to India.
The U.S.-based company plans to triple its Indian workforce of 2,000 in the next three to five years, and it's dedicating most of its $1 billion investment to research and development operations and training in India.
Some in the engineering field are outraged that such high-level jobs and R&D operations will be moved out of the United States, jobs that won't go to U.S. engineering talent coming out of U.S. universities.
RON HIRA, ECONOMIC POLICY INST.: What the Cisco announcement shows is that high-end engineering jobs are not immune to going overseas. In fact, companies are making very active steps to create those jobs in low-cost countries like India.
PILGRIM: The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers reports a loss of 92,000 jobs between the year 2000 and 2005.
With operations in 120 countries, Cisco says the global operations allow the company to transcend physical location and optimize diverse talents and skills of the company's employees and partners around the globe. Two years ago, Cisco CEO John Chambers famously told a Beijing audience Cisco has a strategy of becoming a Chinese company. In the new announcement, there was no mention of the talented workforce in the United States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Cisco says they chose India as the location for which to expand its globalization vision because India has a highly-skilled workforce, supportive government, innovative customers, and world class partners that already have global capabilities.
Well, so does the United States -- Lou.
DOBBS: He left out the word cheap labor, didn't he?
PILGRIM: Yes.
DOBBS: Kitty, thank you very much.
Time now for your thoughts.
James in Florida said, "I finally figured out what our government is doing." Good for you, James. James says, "They destroy the middle class and bring this country to its knees to solve the problem of illegal immigration. We'll be poorer than the rest of the world, so they won't want to come here anymore." That's as good a theory as any.
And Jacquelyn in Delaware. "Amnesty, in short, means a drastic increase in taxes that politicians refuse to link with amnesty. We can't give amnesty to 12 million people based on feelings of compassion, as it defies the Constitution, laws and reason." I hope you're right.
And Clark in New Jersey. "I have a 12-year-old grandchild that could tell homeland security what the word 'control' means, or at least show them how to use a dictionary."
Send your thoughts to LouDobbs.com. More of your thoughts coming up here later. Each of you whose email is read on the broadcast receives a copy of my new book, "War on the Middle Class."
Coming up next, two of the country's most distinguished military leaders weigh in on the conclusion of the Iraq Study Group. The Justice Department tells a New York village, change the way you elect officials or you're going to court.
We'll have that special report, a great deal more, straight ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The Hoover line of vacuum cleaners is being shipped off to China. Whirlpool says it will sell Hoover to a Hong Kong-based company. Hoover is a nearly 100-year-old American brand, but it struggled recently against imports. The company has plants in Ohio, Texas and Mexico. Now it won't have to worry about all that foreign competition. It will be foreign-owned.
And how does the National Association of Manufacturers respond to a recent report that shows American manufacturers losing market share in the United States in almost every single category of product to foreign producers? A NAM spokesman admits American manufacturers have a lot of problems. Then seemingly says, don't worry.
NAM says even though -- get this. Even though American manufacturers are losing market share in this country, the American market is expanding. Presumably, NAM wouldn't mind if foreign manufacturers owned 98 percent of the American market, so long as it is expanding. That's precisely the kind of mindless, faith-based free trade nonsense that's landed the country in the mess we're in.
The federal government tonight is telling the city of Port Chester, New York, to change the way it elects its officials. The Justice Department says the city's Hispanic population is underrepresented. Bill Tucker reports.
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, the notice from the Justice Department was handed down to city -- village officials here without any prior warning, without any prior discussion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER (voice-over): The letter announced that the federal government was authorizing the filing of a lawsuit against the village of Port Chester. A lawsuit that would be filed as a result of what the Department of Justice called voting patterns polarized by ethnicity, preventing Hispanics from being elected to office. Ironically, the unintended consequence could be to create representation for a large illegal alien population, which some see as the way it should be.
REV. RAFAEL GARCIA, SUMMERFIELD METHODIST CHURCH: They mow the loans of those who live here. They do baby-sitting of those who live here. So you know, they are connected to the life of the village, whether they like it or not.
TUCKER: The Justice Department's case rests on the fact that no Hispanics have ever been elected to office in Port Chester. In honest review of voting records compared to Census Bureau's statistics, the department notes that according to the 2000 Census, Hispanics comprise 46.2 percent of Port Chester's total population, 43 percent of its voting age population, and 21.9 percent of its citizen voting age population.
No effort was made by the department or the Census Bureau to verify a resident's legal status.
Legal or not, there is no denying the implications of the population statistics.
ANTHONY PISCIONERE, SPEC. COUNSEL, PORT CHESTER: There really is, there really is a lot of irony when you think about it. Why would you want to take a group and segment them into a district when in the short period of time they're going to have influence village-wide? It makes no sense to me.
TUCKER: The mayor of Port Chester says he is not ignoring the large Hispanic population, noting proudly that the village holds citizenship classes to help those who want to become citizens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: As for what happens next, the village would like some dialogue with the Justice Department, something which to date has not happened -- Lou.
DOBBS: Bill, thanks. Bill Tucker.
Joining me now from Port Chester is the village's mayor, Gerald Logan. Mr. Mayor, good to have you with us.
Well, you are in a heck of a mess here.
MAYOR GERALD LOGAN, PORT CHESTER, NEW YORK: Thanks for having me here, Lou.
DOBBS: Well, it's...
LOGAN: Well, we appreciate it, Lou, and, you know, we're doing everything we can. We're doing our due diligence. We have our attorneys working with the Justice Department. We've had our own experts review all of the data that was received from the federal government.
DOBBS: You are ready for a lawsuit.
LOGAN: Yes, sir.
DOBBS: All right. Has anybody from the Justice Department come over and said, Mr. Mayor, we would like to talk to you about the situation here?
LOGAN: Not yet, but we're hoping. Our attorney spoke with them yesterday and said when are we going to meet.
DOBBS: You mean no one from the Justice Department has had the class, the courtesy, the common sense to just come in there and talk to you all about what might be a resolution here?
LOGAN: Not yet, sir. Not yet.
DOBBS: Unbelievable.
LOGAN: But we're hoping that's going to happen. We feel as though the dynamics have changed here since our data does not agree -- our experts, and we have some great experts reviewing their data.
DOBBS: Well, Port Chester is not... LOGAN: And, obviously, the data doesn't...
DOBBS: Port Chester is -- I think I'm correct in saying -- not exactly a giant metropolis that's very difficult to discern here. You're a community of, what, about 30,000 folks?
LOGAN: Roughly speaking, yes. We are about 2.4 square miles, so we're a very small village in area, but we have a lot of people.
DOBBS: How many people in your community, Mr. Mayor, are Hispanic and how many are white and how many are black?
LOGAN: Well, the percentage of Hispanics has grown tremendously. I think the last census added up somewhere in the neighborhood of 46 percent. The number of voting age Hispanics is somewhere in the 20,000 range, but voting age could mean people that are 18 or older. They may not be citizens, they may not be registered to vote, but at 18 or older you are eligible to vote, so that's the statistics they're going by.
DOBBS: So you have never elected a Hispanic in your town even though they're almost half your population, right?
LOGAN: That is correct. Hispanics have run for office. They have not been successful.
DOBBS: All right.
LOGAN: But, obviously, that is going to change in the next several years as their population grows, they become citizens.
DOBBS: What percentage -- Mr. Mayor, what percentage of your town's businesses are owned by Hispanic businessmen and women?
LOGAN: Well, if you go along our main street area, there's a number of restaurants and shops and travel agencies and clothing and bakeries all Hispanic-operated. I have visited many of them, had meetings with them, and they're doing very well down there. They're very happy in their businesses. And so, you know...
DOBBS: So if that's the case, let me ask you this. If that's the case, you have, what -- have you got seven folks on your board?
LOGAN: We're a seven-member board, including myself, yes.
DOBBS: So why haven't -- you would think with that, that at least one Hispanic would be voted in.
LOGAN: Well, it just hasn't worked that way, Lou. We have in the past asked many qualified Hispanics to run for office, but either because of their careers or their job commitments, they were not able to do so. There's a lot of fine Hispanics, very well-qualified. Many are attorneys that are well-qualified, so it's a question of time it's going to happen.
DOBBS: And what will happen next, it looks like, legal action, but the fact is, do you have a sense of what percentage of your Hispanic population there is legal?
LOGAN: At this point, Lou, it's hard to determine because they fall under the radar when the last census was done. Obviously, we don't know how many. We know there's probably in excess of 30,000 people here.
DOBBS: Yes. We should point out -- and I neglected to do so at the outset. I mean, the fact is that the census makes no distinction between a citizen and any other person here, whether you are here lawfully or unlawfully.
Mr. Mayor, we know you have got to be frustrated by this. I have to imagine your community is.
LOGAN: Yes.
DOBBS: But it sounds like, on every other level, that this is a community -- your community is one in which there is -- I better ask you this. It seems like you have racial harmony. In fact, it would seem to me that you have racial harmony that many might not expect given the rapid increase in the population of Hispanics over the course of the past 10, 15 years.
LOGAN: Well, that's true, Lou, and, you know, I have been working with Hispanic groups. I have a Congresswoman Nita Lowey coming here the end of January with staff and immigration people to talk to several hundred people that are now qualified to take the application process, and we're working with those people and we're going to get them to become citizens.
So that number is going to grow tremendously, and they want to be registered to vote. They want to be citizens, so it's a question of time. We are working our hearts out to try to work with them in any way we can.
DOBBS: OK. Well, we appreciate it, and we're going to be following up, by the way, to find out why the Justice Department is so interested in this case a priori, rather than trying to deal with it intelligently and trying to understand who the people are that the Census Bureau picked up. This is a great series of disconnects in this country.
Mr. Mayor, we appreciate your time. We wish you well. We wish your community well.
LOGAN: And thank you so much, Lou. I appreciate it too.
DOBBS: Thank you.
Up next, the proposals from the Iraq Study Group, they have to survive a political minefield as our soldiers and marines and sailors have to survive real minefields in Iraq. I'll be talking with two former military commanders about this report and what it adds to the way forward.
Also, America's middle class finds itself in a historically unprecedented situation. It's a war too. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The Iraq Study Group says the United States should withdraw most combat brigades from Iraq by the first quarter of 2008. Joining me now, Major General Paul Eaton who served in Iraq leading the effort to train Iraqi military and police, General Grange -- General David Grange, a highly decorated Vietnam veteran who served in the infantry, airborne, delta anti-terrorist units all over the world.
Gentlemen, good to have you here.
MAJ. GEN. PAUL EATON, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Great to be here, Lou.
DOBBS: This ISG -- recommendations, 79 them in point of fact, General Eaton, does it give you confidence that, as the report is termed, that the way forward will be more effective?
EATON: No, I think this gives great cover to the administration to change course, to embark down a path that's been prepared by a pretty talented group of people. And with a brand new secretary of defense, I think we've got hope for change here.
DOBBS: General Grange.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, it puts more people involved in the leadership of the nation behind the war effort, which basically has been somewhat isolated with, I think, very little support from the rest of the government.
DOBBS: You both are expressing some hope. It's guarded hope, as I hear you speak.
Paul Eaton, let me ask you, is it your sense that there is a way forward that includes victory in Iraq?
EATON: Lou, when you start talking in terms of a diplomatic and economic assault along with the very lonely military metric that we've applied here, it gives me some hope that you see state and you see justice and you see the pure diplomatic power the United States brought to bear, as well as economic power brought to bear. Those are the reinforcements. Those are the cavalry for the military effort that's been underway.
DOBBS: Same question, General Grange.
GRANGE: Well, I think there's definitely a chance for victory still to have some come out of there somehow with a stable Iraq to some degree. What should have happened is this report, this effort, should have happened when Paul Eaton was there during his tour years ago when all this type of resourcing would have probably paved the way for a sure success.
DOBBS: The head of the Marine Corps says he's got to have more people, and he needs those people quick. Everyone I talk to in the U.S. Army, the U.S. military -- it's -- what they're basically saying is, we need a lot of help, more people, and quick. No one wants to support a draft. That's not what they're asking for. But this military is worn down, and, as Senator McCain said today, being at this stage, being stressed and strung out is a lot better than being defeated.
But how much longer can this country reasonably tolerate the -- just the abuse of the U.S. military by out policymakers that have put them into positions where we're spending billions of dollars on worn- out equipment, straining out -- stringing out our Reserves, our Guard, and our regular military?
GRANGE: Well, I'll go ahead and start that off if it's OK. I would -- I think we're coming to the end of the rope on the size of the military, committed the way they are right now in Iraq and Afghanistan. And in particular, for being ready in case something happens in Iran or elsewhere around the world.
We're asking too much of the military for the commitments right now that they're expected to accomplish to standard.
EATON: Lou, had you the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff seven, eight, nine months ago say that we had a spike in demand for ground forces and that we did not need to increase the size of our ground forces. That is inappropriate. We are not at a spike. This is a plateau. It's an ascending plateau.
And we have got to get this new Congress to commit the dollars to grow the force and to repair the force so that we can meet the foreign policy objectives of our nation.
DOBBS: OK. Paul ton, thank you very much.
Dave Grange, thank you very much.
Gentlemen, good to have you here.
Coming up next, our middle class is breaking all kinds of records. Unfortunately, they're not the ones that we would like to be breaking. We'll have that special report and more straight ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: With an increasing number of American companies sending good jobs overseas to cheap labor markets and downward pressure on wages caused, in part, by illegal immigration, there is a worsening gap between our rich and our poor, and a middle class, caught in the middle, working harder and harder just trying to stay even.
Christine Romans reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mary Jane Fanton has been laid off after 32 years from a union job at an electronics plant in Cuba, New York. She figures she can work 15 more years, so she plans to go to college. A degree, she hopes, will keep her in the middle class.
MARY JANE FANTON, CUBA, NEW YORK: I would hope that it does, but there's no guarantees on anything. And some days I have my doubts.
ROMANS: Mary Jane is part of a middle class that is struggling to maintain its living standards, smack in the middle of a growing gap between rich and poor.
According the Census Bureau, real median hourly earnings for both men and women are falling. The middle 20 percent of workers earn a record low share of income, and 47 million Americans are without health insurance, a record number of them, children.
CHRISTIAN WELLER, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: We've never seen anything like this before where we've had good growth in the economy, we had a well-performing stock market. And we've really left the majority of Americans behind.
ROMANS: Still, there are those who downplay this great divide, calling it a media creation. Tom Borelli works for a free market think tank. He says liberals are cherry-picking economic numbers to push their agenda.
TOM BORELLI, NATL. CTR. PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: You can torture the data until it confesses. In this instance, I think this is what's going on. I think if you look at long-term business cycles, there's no need to panic. Wages are coming up. Poverty levels are coming down.
ROMANS: But even the treasury secretary has acknowledged this divide.
HENRY PAULSON, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Amid this country's strong economic expansion, many Americans simply are not feeling the benefits.
ROMANS: Mary Jane Fanton is one of them. At 52 years old, she says her choices now are going to college or working at a fast-food restaurant.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: She hates the idea of having so few choices after 32 years of service to her company. She's determined, she says, to be proactive, to get a good job and an education.
But census figures show over the past five years, real wages for people with a bachelor's degree also falling, Lou.
DOBBS: Christine, thanks very much.
And we wish her well. We wish everybody well in this country who's willing to work and try to provide a better life.
Up next, the results of our poll.
And join us in just a few moments. Our special town hall meeting, "War on the Middle Class", coming to you tonight from Buffalo, New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Our poll results: 64 percent of you say efforts to secure our borders and ports are not, as Governor Richardson, nothing more than demagoguery.
Time now for a last thought.
"Dear Lou," From Linda in Texas, "the only war they're winning in Washington, D.C. is the war on the middle class."
Send us your thoughts at LouDobbs.com.
We thank you for being with us tonight. Please join us here tomorrow.
Good night from New York.
Our town hall special tonight from Buffalo New York.
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