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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Defending the War; Iran's Role in Iraq; GOP Reps Break With Bush
Aired February 14, 2007 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, HOST: Coming up tonight, new questions about the case against former Border Patrol agents Compean and Ramos. The court and the Justice Department in possession of seemingly damaging evidence against the key prosecution witness, an illegal alien drug smuggler given immunity to testify against those agents by the Justice Department. And the jury never saw it.
Bank of America going ahead with its plan to provide credit cards to illegal aliens. The bank says it's not breaking the law. What does Congress have to say? What in the world is Bank in the America thinking?
We'll have a special report.
And America's teens have to go no further than the medicine cabinet at home to get high. A new study shows prescription and over- the-counter drugs one of the ways in which many kids now are abusing drugs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What really appealed to me about drugs was how fast and easy I could get them. Just like I could buy them just as fast as I could get pizza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, news, debate and opinion for Wednesday, February 14th.
Live in New York, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everybody.
President Bush today publicly defended his strategy in Iraq at the very same time lawmakers from his own party were lining up against him.
And the Pentagon today backed down from charges the leadership in the Iranian government is sending weapons to Iraq. Weapons that are killing our troops.
Ed Henry reports tonight on the president's decision not to change the current security plan in Baghdad.
Jamie McIntyre tonight reports from the Pentagon on the conflicting intelligence about Iran's role in Iraq.
And Andrea Koppel reports on the growing number of Republican lawmakers lining up with Democrats to rebuke the president's policies.
We begin with Ed Henry at the White House -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Lou, the president did get questions today in his first press conference of the year about that security plan in Baghdad, but it was persistent queries about Iran that seemed to irritate him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice over): President Bush was confronted with questions of credibility about administration claims that top Iranian officials are supplying weapons to Shiite militias in Iraq.
(on camera): Though some of those contradictions, Mr. President...
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's no contradiction that the weapons are there and they were provided by the Quds force.
HENRY (voice over): Mr. Bush was referring to an elite section of Iran's Revolutionary Guard which is part of the government, but he seemed to pull back from previous administration charges that high- level Iranian government officials were responsible.
BUSH: What we don't know is whether or not the head leaders of Iran ordered the Quds force to do what they did.
HENRY: That squares with General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, who said while the explosive devices are manufactured in Iran...
GEN. PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: That does not translate to that the Iranian government, per se, for sure, is directly involved in doing this.
HENRY: But the president's comments flatly contradict what a U.S. official said Sunday in Baghdad during an off-camera briefing with reporters.
HENRY: They said the highest levels of the Iranian government were behind this...
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Can I -- I can't say --let me finish, Ed.
I can't save it more plainly. There are weapons in Iraq that are harming U.S. troops because of the Quds force. And as you know, I hope, that the Quds force is a part of the Iranian government. Whether Ahmadinejad ordered the Quds force to do this, I don't think we know. HENRY (voice over): Mixed signals are fueling questions about whether the White House is relying on flawed intelligence just like in the run-up to the Iraq war.
(on camera): What assurances can you give the American people that the intelligence this time will be accurate?
BUSH: I don't think we know who picked up the phone and said to the Quds force, go do this. But we know it's a vital part of the Iranian government.
What matters is, is that we're responding. The idea that somehow we're manufacturing the idea that the Iranians are providing IEDs is preposterous, Ed.
HENRY (voice over): The president seemed frustrated with continued questions about whether the maneuvering is building a case for war with Iran.
BUSH: No. It means I'm trying to protect our troops. That's what that means.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Now, Democrats will be turning up the heat on the president about all of this tomorrow. CNN has learned that the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Sylvestre Reyes, is going to have a closed, classified hearing Thursday on Iran -- exactly what the intelligence community knows, why is this information being rolled out now, and is the entire intelligence community on board with the White House interpretation of this intelligence -- Lou.
DOBBS: Let's go to the question that the president raises. And that is, what is the United States government doing about the fact that Iranian manufactured weapons are in Iraq and being used against our troops?
HENRY: Well, they say that they're trying to crack down on it. But since there have been more than 100 U.S. soldiers, by the administration's account -- own account who have been killed by these various weapons, obviously there are questions being raised about why there wasn't a crackdown sooner -- Lou.
DOBBS: Absolutely. And why there isn't a clear statement as to what is being done about that very important fact.
Thank you very much.
Ed Henry from the White House.
The Bush administration is backing away from allegations that Iranian weapons are being sent into Iraq under orders from the "highest levels" of the Iranian government, as Ed Henry just reported. President Bush today said he doesn't know that to be true, and a Pentagon official privately said an anonymous military briefing in Baghdad went "too far" in leveling the charges. Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre now joins me -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, after several weeks of the U.S. government, the State Department and the Pentagon saying that they were delaying any announcement on this because they wanted to get it right, they essentially got this wrong. That anonymous intelligence briefer in Baghdad leveled a very serious charge that these weapons were coming from the highest levels of the government, and it took President Bush to set the record straight to say that they don't know that to be the fact.
The fact of the matter is, though, they do believe that this al Quds brigade or Quds force does take its orders from the highest level and did probably act on orders, but they can't prove it. And today Major General William Caldwell in Iraq tried to put things back in perspective.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: I think people want to make an inference. I think people want to hype this up.
What we are saying is that within Iran, that these EFP component parts are being manufactured. Within Iran, weapons and munitions are being manufactured that are ending up in Iraq. And we're asking the Iranian government to assist in stopping that from occurring.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Lou, what's happened here is there was a serious disconnect between what was being said in Washington and what U.S. military briefers on the ground thought was expected of them.
They thought they were giving a fairly routine briefing about the presence of Iranian-made weapons in Iraq that were being used against U.S. forces. What they called a force protection briefing.
But meanwhile, back here in Washington, top official were touting it as the definitive briefing making the case against Iran. The result was that one intelligence officer saying something that was off the page. And then after that, making that unsupported allegation, then major official his to reel it all back in.
It's really a textbook case of how not to conduct foreign policy -- Lou.
DOBBS: To conduct foreign policy, nor is it a way in which the United States military should be communicating in the most peculiar, peculiar terms. To hear General Caldwell talking about, we're asking the Iranian government to stop after the military itself asserts that Iranian weaponry supplied by the Quds force has killed more than 100 American troops? I mean, could the military contrive a way in which to look more foolish or inept? MCINTYRE: Well, you know, to be fair, Lou, they're making a major effort. I mean, they're targeting these networks that are bringing these IEDs into the country. They've rounded up some Iranians.
They're trying to put more forces to seal the border. They're trying to put pressure on Iran. So they are making an effort, but as in any case where things are being smuggled in and used by insurgents, it's a -- it's a difficult fight.
DOBBS: There is no question it is a difficult fight. But in a difficult fight, one expects far more of our military leadership, as well as our civilian leadership, perhaps, than our dedicated men and women in Iraq in uniform are receiving.
Jamie McIntyre from the Pentagon.
Thank you very much.
Insurgents in Iraq have killed six more of our troops. The soldiers were killed in separate incidents around Baghdad.
Forty-seven of our troops have been killed so far this month. 3,129 of our troops have been killed since the beginning of this war. 23,530 of our troops have been wounded, 10,449 of them so seriously they could not return to duty within three days.
Radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has left Iraq. He is believed to be now in Iran.
The U.S. military in Iraq confirms that al-Sadr has left Iraq. Local officials, however, deny the cleric has left the country. Al- Sadr, whose Shia militia controls the Sadr City section of Baghdad, has called for all American troops to leave Iraq.
As the president today said, members of Congress have every right to voice their opposition to the sending of reinforcements to Iraq. A number of House Republicans took to the floor today to do exactly that. They joined with Democrats to support the non-binding resolution opposing the president's policy.
Andrea Koppel reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was a telling moment.
QUESTION: Do you believe that a vote of disapproval of your policy emboldens the enemy?
KOPPEL: Even as a reporter was asking President Bush about the implications of this week's voting Congress...
QUESTION: Why are we in Iraq? That is the question.
KOPPEL: ... on the floor of the House, members of Mr. Bush's own party were breaking with him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish our president had chosen a different path.
KOPPEL: Almost a dozen Republicans lining up with Democrats opposing the president's strategy.
REP. RIC KELLER (R), FLORIDA: Interjecting more American troops into the crosshairs of an Iraqi civil war is simply not the right approach.
REP. JIM RAMSTAD (R), MINNESOTA: It's time for a surge in diplomacy, not a surge in troops to mend a broken country.
KOPPEL: Still, most Republicans agreed with Mr. Bush.
REP. MICHAEL ROGERS (R), ALABAMA: What disturbs me most, Mr. Speaker, about this resolution is its clear purpose is to divide those of us in this chamber
KOPPEL: The president, were he to allow this mostly symbolic resolution, could turn into a slippery slope and leave Congress to cut off funding for the troops.
BUSH: Our troops are counting on their elected leaders in Washington, D.C., to provide them with the support they need to do their mission.
KOPPEL: Even those Republicans opposed to the president's plan said that would be going too far.
REP. MICHAEL CASTLE (R), DELAWARE: Protecting American soldiers must continue to be our greatest priority. And I will oppose any attempts to cut off funding for our troops who are serving in harm's way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: Now, Democrats have also promised that they wouldn't cut funding for the troops. But at the same time, Speaker Pelosi has made clear that there will be no more blank check for President Bush, and other Democrats, like Pennsylvania's John Murtha, has said that he intends to scrutinize additional funding for the war, Lou. He's going to have a hearing on that next month.
DOBBS: Andrea, any substantial time given today to the -- to the consequences in Iraq of any course followed, that is, sending reinforcement, not sending reinforcements or a withdraw, as some of the Democratic presidential candidates have suggested, some as early as March of 2008?
KOPPEL: Sure. I mean, Republicans have talking points, a list of about four or five issues that they have been hammering away for the last two day, Lou. And they include things like making the U.S. more vulnerable to terrorism attacks if you just... DOBBS: Well, I was talking about really the more specific consequences with some considerable specificity about a range of options, including those being pursued by the president.
KOPPEL: No, not really.
DOBBS: Andrea, thank you very much.
Andrea Koppel from Washington.
Coming up next here, startling new revelations about the key witness in the Ramos-Compean case. We'll have the latest for you. And it isn't pretty.
And a recruiting ad for the U.S. Border Patrol was deemed too controversial for the NFL in the Super Bowl. We'll have a report for you.
And it may be time to lock the bathroom medicine cabinet for parents of America's teenagers. Teens looking for prescription and over-the-counter drugs for highs. We'll have a special report on a nation addicted, the war within.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: There's rising outrage tonight over Bank of America's shocking plan to offer bank accounts and credit cards to illegal aliens in this country. Many in Congress say simply it is a dangerous precedent posing serious security risks to the nation.
Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Los Angeles County, one the largest concentrations of illegal aliens in the country. Bank of America is reaching out to the community to help people open bank accounts and then qualify for a credit card.
REP. TED POE (R), TEXAS: Bank of America is tapping a resource of people in our country, and knowing that they deal only on the cash economy as going after that money and making a profit off of it, making a profit off of illegal entry into the United States.
PILGRIM: For identification, Bank of America accepts the ITIN. A taxpayer ID number that illegal aliens commonly use instead of a Social Security number. Officials at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency confirmed today that an ITIN, along with name, address, and date of birth, is allowed to open a bank account.
The bank then has to verify the information with another government-issued photo ID document. But that document can be issued by any government. So illegals often use matricula consular issued by the Mexican government, easily forged or available on the black market.
No passport is required. No visa is required. And once a bank account is opened, ID does not have to be rechecked for a credit card.
The office of Senator Richard Shelby, the ranking member the Senate Banking Committee, released this statement today. "Senator Shelby wants to ensure the financial services industry is not offering products or services that facilitate, encourage or even reward illegal immigration."
Fifty-one branches of Bank of America in Los Angeles County are launching the promotion.
REP. TOM TANCREDO (R), COLORADO: The Bank of America is saying, I don't care what our immigration laws are, there's a niche market here and we're going to go after it.
PILGRIM: Bank of America says they're simply going after an existing customer base in the Los Angeles area.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now, officials at the government regulator of national banks, the OCC, said they have no position on whether banks should allow illegal aliens to open checking accounts or have credit cards. Adding, that's an immigration issue -- Lou.
DOBBS: You know, that's the worst kind of obfuscation and spin on the part of people who know far better. And it's remarkable.
I do want to say one thing about Bank of America. I, as you know, Kitty, don't like -- I try never to call anybody a name.
Last night I said a spokesperson for B of A, and going through some nonsense claptrap about trying to rationalize this ridiculous decision, I said that person was an idiot. And what I really meant to say is what that person said was idiotic. So I want to apologize to that person I called an idiot. I just meant that that person was speaking idiotically.
Kitty, thank you very much.
President Bush used his news conference today to once again push his amnesty agenda for illegal aliens to give citizenship to 12 to 20 million illegal aliens in this country. President Bush claimed again the only way to have effective security along our border -- now, let me repeat this -- the only way to have effective security along our border with Mexico is to give illegal aliens the right to live and work legally in this country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: We need a temporary worker program so that people don't try to sneak in the country to work. That they can come in an orderly fashion and take the pressure off the Border Patrol agents that we've got out there so that the Border Patrol agents don't focus on workers that are doing jobs Americans aren't doing but are focusing on terrorists and criminal elements, gun runners to keep both our countries safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Did the president mention drug smugglers? Like the one given immunity to testify against the Border Patrol?
President Bush and open borders advocates are trying very hard to revive the so-called comprehensive immigration reform legislation that died in our last Congress. We'll see what happens.
Outrage tonight over the National Football League's decision to reject an ad from the U.S. Border Patrol for its Super Bowl program. The NFL claimed the recruitment ad was "too controversial" and it didn't want to enter into the national immigration debate.
Our Jeanne Meserve reports
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Department of Homeland Security scanned every truck making a delivery to Super Bowl XVI. Its K-9 team sniffed for bombs. Its helicopters helped police the skies. But when one of its agencies, the Border Patrol, tried to place a recruiting ad in the official Super Bowl program, the National Football League said, no way.
"It was a little too hard-hitting for our fans," says an NFL spokesman. "We weren't comfortable with some of the language."
The ad copy says Border Patrol agents "... prevent the entry of terrorists and their weapons into the United States, detect and prevent the unlawful entry of documented aliens, and apprehend violators of our immigration laws..."
In 2005, the NFL held a regular-season game in Mexico City, part of an effort to cultivate an Hispanic audience. Some believe the Border Patrol ad was rejected because it could undercut that effort.
T.J. BONNER, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: They're courting the Latino audience, but they're ignoring the fact that, for example, the Border Patrol is comprised 40 percent Latinos, American citizens. Most American citizens, regardless of their race, regardless of their ethnicity, support the Border Patrol and support secure borders
MESERVE: The Border Patrol ad has been accepted to run in programs for the NBA all-star game, the NCAA Final 4, and the professional bull riding magazine. Homeland Security says it's grateful to those organization for helping them recruit front-line personnel to help secure the nation's borders.
Reaction to rejection by the NFL? "We are disappointed," says a DHS spokesman.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: The Super Bowl program is full of soft feature articles and football-regulated ads. And even though they wouldn't accept an ad that mentioned immigration, they did take an ad from this guy. Hey, you talk about immigration, don't you, Lou?
DOBBS: I do, and occasionally considered somewhat controversial. But I'm very proud I got to be very near Peyton Manning and Rex Grossman in that.
The idea that the NFL would do this, this is a federal agency with a very serious, critical, national security role. How could the NFL have the temerity to do this?
MESERVE: They say this is entertainment, that the Super Bowl is supposed to be for fun. They didn't want to raise the issue of terrorism.
However, anybody who was attending that game went through security. The security is there because of terrorism. I think they might have thought of it that day.
DOBBS: I wonder as those jets did that brilliant fly-over at Super Bowl, as all of the counterterrorism forces were around the Super Bowl in Miami, protecting all of the people, including the NFL there, if they thought they would be too controversial to put forward those national security -- people so important to our national security. I think the NFL ought to be ashamed of itself and I would invite anyone from the NFL, from the commissioner, on to whoever you want, come on and explain to us how it's controversial to support the men and women who are serving this nation in such a critical national security role, because I'm sure this audience would love to understand what you've got to say.
Jeanne, thank you very much.
MESERVE: You're welcome.
DOBBS: Up next here, explosive new revelations in the case of former Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean. The illegal alien drug smuggler given immunity by the prosecutors didn't stop smuggling drugs into this country and may have even had a little help from the prosecutor.
We'll be telling you all about that.
And war on our middle class. Democrats on Capitol Hill say they're ready to defend the country's workers. We're talking tough trade rules for China. And we'll be talking about who is asserting the interests of this country's middle class for a change.
And the war within, the illegal use of legal drugs tonight. Teenagers addicted to over-the-counter and prescription drugs.
We'll have that special report.
Stay with us. All of that and more, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The war within. A new report shows parents need to take a close look at home to prevent drug use among our youth. When it comes to young children in particular, medicines are now some of the most commonly-abused drugs.
Christine Romans reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Sarah (ph) is 16 years old from Michigan. She says getting drugs was easy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could buy them just as fast as I can get pizza.
ROMANS: Mike is 17 from Long Island, New York, and knows just where to get drugs at school.
MIKE, FMR. DRUG ADDICT: You can walk down the hallway and you just know who is involved.
ROMANS: Both started with marijuana and quickly moved on to prescription drugs. Both now being treated for drug addiction.
Another 2.1 million kids just like them abused prescription drugs in 2005, the government says. And for younger teens, 12 to 13 years old, prescription medicines are now the most commonly abused drugs.
JOSEPH CALIFANO, NATIONAL CENTER ON ADDICTION & SUBSTANCE ABUSE: Teen abuse of prescription drugs has tripled -- tripled over the last 10 years. Twice that of marijuana abuse, five times that of cocaine abuse. Sixty times that of heroin abuse
ROMANS: The government released new analysis of youth drug trends, concluding teens are abusing prescription drugs in record numbers and parents are unaware of the problem. A survey of 12th graders found marijuana is still the drug of choice, but the fastest growth was in drugs like Vicodin, amphetamines, cough medicine, sedatives, and tranquilizers.
Sarah (ph) and Mike say they both started drugs well before their senior year.
(on camera): How old were you when you first started?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twelve, 13.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Adults in this country, whether they be parents, teachers, pharmaceutical companies, have got to do a better job of keeping this stuff out of the hands of our children.
ROMANS: Both Sarah (ph) and Mike have been sober for a year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Girls are more likely to use prescription drugs, but both girls and boys report it's really easy to acquire them at home, from their grandparents, in school or online. When you look at first- time drug users, almost as many kids now first try medicines to get high as marijuana.
And the drugs are -- John Walters was there today. He said on prescription drugs, Lou, we are the dealers. Parents, teachers, we are the dealers, because it's happening in our homes and in our schools.
DOBBS: And I hope that Mr. Walters, our drug czar, would also acknowledge that this nation, we're a nation of enablers. Until we win this war on drugs and deal with the addiction of so many millions of people, we're going to be in very serious trouble. Truly a national crisis.
Christine, thank you very much.
Christine Romans.
Time now for a look at some of your thoughts.
Carolyn in Alabama said, "Since Bank of America wants to tap the illegals as a new business core, maybe they should issue their first card to the illegal drug smuggler who put Ramos and Compean in prison."
And Pat in California, "Lou, do you really think there is a war on drugs? Look at Ramos and Compean in prison for trying to stop an illegal alien drug smuggler."
And Joan in Michigan, "I might have voted for the Democrats in 2006, but considering none of them will stand up for Mr. Ramos and Mr. Compean, I will be voting Republican in 2008."
Send us your thoughts at loudobbs.com. We'll have more of your thoughts here later.
Each of you whose e-mail is read receives a copy of my book, "War on the Middle Class."
Up next, shocking new revelations in the case against those two Border Patrol agents. You may find this latest twist difficult to believe. We did. We'll have the special report.
And then millions of middle-class jobs have been outsourced to cheap labor around the world, and in China particularly. Now Democrats on Capitol Hill say they're ready to change all of that.
And snow, sleet and high winds, a deadly winter storm slamming much of the nation. We'll have the very latest for you, including a forecast. Stay with us for all of that and more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DOBBS: A leading Democrat has joined Republicans in demanding a wider investigation into the case of two imprisoned Border Patrol agents. The call by California Senator Dianne Feinstein comes one day after the release of explosive transcripts from the trial of Ramos and Compean. Those transcripts reveal more about the Mexican drug smuggler who received immunity from the prosecutor for testifying against the law enforcement agents. Casey Wian has the latest for us -- Casey.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, it's clear from the Ramos-Compean trial transcripts that prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the judge all believed that Mexican illegal alien Oscar Aldrete- Davila was involved in smuggling a second load of marijuana into the United States eight months after he was shot and wounded by the Border Patrol agents. The jury did hear limited details about the first drug load he was transporting in February 2005, day he escaped from Ramos, Compean and several other agents. But the judge refused to allow the jury to hear that after prosecutors granted the smuggler immunity, he was tied to a second big marijuana load found at a stash house in Texas.
And incredibly, Aldrete-Davila had a border crossing card at the time, which was provided to him by prosecutors, so he could receive medical treatment in the United States. We have no way of knowing, but it's entirely possible he could have used that border crossing document to bring in the load of drugs right under the nose of the federal government.
Very few details of the second drug load are available because the evidence was placed under seal by the judge. But we do know that U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, who approved immunity for the drug smuggler, said last month that Aldrete-Davila has not been subsequently arrested for drug smuggling.
Why he was never arrested for his alleged involvement in that second load is just another of the many questions surrounding the prosecution of this case -- Lou.
DOBBS: Casey, this is -- this gets increasingly disturbing. Let me ask you, the idea that this evidence was sealed, based on the idea that the jury couldn't handle it, I suppose -- do we have any sense of what else may be under seal?
WIAN: We don't. We do know that one of the reasons -- attorneys tell us that one of the reasons this evidence was placed under seal was because the case was still ongoing. It was a law enforcement matter.
But in terms of what else is there, in terms of who else might be implicated in that, we don't know. We hear rumors from sources involved in the case that the Drug Enforcement Administration, for example, has ordered that its agents not even look into this matter. So it must be sensitive information, but we just don't know. And we do know that attorneys are trying to get that information unsealed as part of the appeal process. So far no success -- Lou.
DOBBS: And last night, you reported that this case did not begin in El Paso, but where?
WIAN: Well, we don't know. We don't know that for sure either. Because that information about the possibility that this case may have begun with the Mexican consulate came from the same office of inspector general investigators, who lied to Congress about another matter related to this case. The testimony in the case was this case started with a Border Patrol agent who was a childhood friend of the drug smuggler, but there are now questions about that as well, Lou.
DOBBS: Absolutely. Casey, if you will, stand by here just for a moment. I'm going to ask us to join us here Jeffrey Toobin, our senior legal analyst, for his insight.
And Jeffrey, let's talk about, first, the judge blocking the defense from discussing the dangerousness of that specific section of our border, which is among the most dangerous sections along that entire 2,000-mile-long border. What would be the possible reason for that?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the prosecution made the argument that it was irrelevant, and the judge accepted that argument.
But, Lou, you know, we've talked a lot about a lot of peculiar things about this case. But this -- Casey's report today really suggests to me the first real chance that an appeals court would overturn this case, because this is potentially so important. The fact that the drug smuggler had a second -- potential second involvement with narcotics after he was granted immunity and the defense was not allowed to cross-examine about that, that violates -- or potentially violates -- a real bedrock principle of criminal trials, which is that a key witness has to be fully cross-examined by the defense. And if that was prohibited, that's potentially very significant.
DOBBS: I would just like to go to that issue. And Casey, please come in at any point here. According to the trial transcript, Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof told the judge, quote, "we basically had to beg him." And we've got a full screen of this there. "He didn't want to come and talk to us about this, so we basically gave him blanket immunity for any drug or immigration crime that he might have been committing on that day."
We now know that Aldrete-Davila confessed to smuggling drugs across that border six days before he was granted immunity. What does that tell us about the prosecution?
TOOBIN: Lou, it tells us that the prosecution cared far more about prosecuting these agents than prosecuting the narcotics violations and the drug importing that the cooperating witness, the drug smuggler, did. And you know, that's the kind of power prosecutors have. That's how they chose to wield it here.
DOBBS: Casey Wian?
WIAN: Well, Lou, there was something else that emerged from the transcripts as well. Part of that immunity agreement was an agreement that Aldrete-Davila would not protect anyone else and that he would be truthful in his testimony.
One of the government's own witnesses admitted on the stand that Aldrete-Davila was not truthful, that he did protect other people. He violated the terms of his immunity agreement, according to defense attorneys, and he was never prosecuted for that either, Lou.
DOBBS: And it appears there are just a host of information -- host of issues, factual and statements here that are confounding and contradictory.
TOOBIN: But what seems to me the most significant is, if there was limitation on the cross-examination of the main witness, that is the kind of thing an appeals court would look at very, very seriously.
DOBBS: And meanwhile, both agents Compean and Ramos have to remain in prison rather than free on bail, while that appeal goes forward.
TOOBIN: And it will be a long time. Probably at least a year.
DOBBS: And not a single person, not one person in the U.S. attorney's office, not one single person in the Justice Department, not a single person in this White House is trying to do the right thing by these two men.
Thank you very much, Jeffrey Toobin, for your insight, as always. Casey Wian for your reporting. We appreciate it.
That brings us to our poll question tonight. Are you outraged that the U.S. attorney had evidence sealed regarding a second drug load that was brought into the United States by the Mexican drug smuggler given immunity in the case against those Border Patrol agents? Yes or no? Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll have the results upcoming.
Next, three of the country's best political analysts join me. We'll be talking about the president's first news conference of the year. And Democrats in Congress taking aim at trade practices that are shipping American jobs to cheap overseas labor markets. We'll have that report.
And cold, icy, blustery winter weather taking a deadly toll on states from Kentucky to Maine. And we'll have the forecast as well as a great deal more.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
DOBBS: Middle-class families in this country have been under attack. They've lost their jobs, they've seen their wages cut as corporate America's moved jobs overseas in search of cheap labor, in particular China. Now Democrats on Capitol Hill are demanding fair trade. They want to make certain China abides by international trade rules. And they say they're ready to act.
Lisa Sylvester has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Promises made, promises not kept. In the last six years, three U.S. treasury secretaries, two commerce secretaries and three U.S. trade representatives all said they would convince China to play fair on trade.
AMB. SUSAN SCHWAB, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: We are absolutely committed to effective enforcement of trade agreements.
SYLVESTER: But the Bush administration's soft approach on China has yielded little results. Now a new Congress is ready to step in.
SEN. BYRON DORGAN, (D) NORTH DAKOTA: We've gone from an $80 billion trade deficit with China to now a $230 billion trade deficit even as the administration's a cheerleader for saying things are fine. They're not fine and we all understand that.
SYLVESTER: A bipartisan group of senators wants to roll back permanent normal trade relations with China. Instead, they want China's trade policies to be reviewed annually, leveraged to keep China from engaging in currency manipulation, intellectual property theft and labor abuses.
Congress is also considering not renewing trade promotion authority, which gives the White House wide latitude in negotiating trade agreements with other countries. Vice President Dick Cheney says it's a necessary tool.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's in our national interest to have a world that trades in freedom. So we're asking Congress to extend trade promotion authority.
SYLVESTER: But lawmakers are tired of trade deals that encourage U.S. companies to move offshore. Those agreements either do not have minimum labor and environmental standards or have provisions that are ignored.
REP. RON KIND, (D) WISCONSIN: The real question is, and what's in the minds of our constituents back home, are we going to work hard to try to harmonize upwards? Or are we going to encourage a race to the bottom?
SYLVESTER: President Bush's trade and commerce team has changed several times since he's been in office. But the one constant has been the soaring trade deficit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER (on camera): That trade deficit reached a new record level last year, $764 billion. Other proposals being considered on Capitol Hill would place a 27.5 percent tariff on all goods coming in from China and another that would that make it easier for American manufacturers to file complaints against China with the World Trade Organization for currency manipulation -- Lou.
DOBBS: Lisa, the vice president said a world that trades in freedom as the reason for the trade promotion authority fast track as if without it, the world would not be trading in freedom. That's the kind of peculiar statement that has confronted us time and time again in this discussion about the high cost of free trade.
Lisa, thank you very much.
Lisa Sylvester.
More bad news of thousands of middle class working Americans in the auto industry. Chrysler saying it will eliminate 13,000 more jobs. The company will close its Delaware assembly plant along with a parts distribution center near Cleveland. Chrysler, blaming poor sales for those job cuts.
Coming up next, Rudy Giuliani taking the lead in the polls on the Republican side, but can he hold it until election day? Three of the country's political analysts join me. We'll be talking about that and a great deal more.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Joining me now former White House political director, Republican strategist, Ed Rollins; Republicans' strategist and fund- raiser Georgette Mosbacher; and Democratic strategist, Democratic National Committeeman Robert Zimmerman.
Good to have you all here.
Well, the first press conference, he said, "We don't know whether or not the head, the leaders of Iran ordered the Quds Force to deliver all of that weaponry," Ed Rollins, "But we do know that" -- what? I mean, what's going on here?
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, I don't care, being perfectly honest. I assume Iran is up to their eyeballs in this war. I assume that there's Russian weapons there, Chinese weapons there. The critical thing is who's using them against our troops and how do we stop it? That's the key thing.
And I think the saber-rattling against Iran at this point in time is ridiculous. We need to focus on getting the mission done where we are right now.
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: What I do care about is the incompetence and the really dangerously irresponsible rhetoric at such a sensitive time. We all understand how volatile Iran is. And you're... DOBBS: You're talking about on the part are of the White House?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes, on the part of the White House. We understand -- yes, you picked that up. But we understand how volatile Iran is. But to have over the weekend, anonymous briefers refer to Iran providing weapons from the highest authorities and to have then the Department of Defense -- secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and our chief admiral in the region say that they had no specifics on this issue is potentially very dangerous.
DOBBS: How dangerous is it, Georgette Mosbacher, that the Democrats are having a debate on Iraq but not offering up policy options or discussing the consequences of those policy choices in Iraq and the region?
GEORGETTE MOSBACHER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It's -- we have a schizophrenic Congress. I mean, three weeks ago they confirmed unanimously the -- General Petraeus. And he's going to implement the Iraq policy. He is an architect of the Iraq policy.
DOBBS: With the reinforcement, the president has sent.
MOSBACHER: Yes. And yet, four days debating on a nonbinding resolution? Lou, they can -- it's not like we don't know how they all -- where they all stand on this issue. I don't understand what's going on. I don't think...
DOBBS: Do you want to help her out here?
ZIMMERMAN: I'll be glad to help you out.
DOBBS: Robert Zimmerman is going to help you out.
ZIMMERMAN: I'll help you out with that. It's called accountability. It's called taking responsibility our future in Iraq and for the protection of our soldiers fighting over there. When this -- for our Congress...
MOSBACHER: But it's go to be more than rhetoric, Robert.
ZIMMERMAN: It is more than rhetoric. It's the first step. It's the first step. It's not just 21,000 troops being escalated. According to the Congressional budget office, between 13,000 and 25,000 more support staff will be sent over there. And the public has a right to know if the Congress...
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: I've got to turn to you on this latest poll. It's a "USA Today"-Gallup poll showing Giuliani ahead of McCain and Romney and with Giuliani's numbers, in point of fact -- if we could take a look at those poll results -- Giuliani's number improving significantly from last month. Your reaction?
ROLLINS: My reaction is that Giuliani has been fairly consistent in his message and hasn't had overexposure. I think McCain has had a terrible two months. He's been exposed in the sense that he's been on every talk show and hasn't made much sense. I think Romney is clearly not catching fire. And I think Rudy has stood out there and said, "Hey, here's who I am. I'm a guy who's a leader. I'm not going to basically be inconsistent in my positions. You may not like them, but here's who I am." And I think people are liking that.
DOBBS: We're going to take a quick break. We're going to take a look at the Democrats. We're going to take a look at how they're doing and why.
We'll be right back with our panel. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Coming up, the "SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer.
Wolf, what you have got tonight?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Lou.
He's furious about the president's troop increase, saying it will cause a surge in casualties. Former Democratic Senator Max Cleland. I'll speak with him this coming hour.
Also, why is the judge in the CIA leak trial warning the defense not to play games? It's an angry rebuke. We're going to tell you what happened.
Also, is art imitating real-life or is target way around? On TV an anti-terror agent tortures agents to save the nation. But might that be giving real-life agents some bad ideas? We'll take a look at the influence of "24".
And he's a presidential candidate who wants to be a quitter. Senator Barack Obama hopes to kick the habit of smoking. His wife wants your help. Our Jeanne Moos takes a closer look on why so many people are watching this story right now.
All of that, Lou, coming up right here on the "SITUATION ROOM".
DOBBS: Wolf, thank you very much.
How about it, Robert Zimmerman? Are you are ready to help Obama?
ZIMMERMAN: Well, I have announced my support for Hillary Clinton a week ago, and...
DOBBS: I was just talking about smoking. I'm sorry.
ZIMMERMAN: I didn't hear that part of the interview. And I'm glad he's quitting smoking.
DOBBS: Clinton leading, and really -- according to the latest "USA Today"-Gallup poll, Senator Clinton really just about made a dramatic improvement from last month. And as you see there, Obama moving up modestly and Edwards holding static at 13 percent. Is this race over in your somewhat canted view of politics right now?
ZIMMERMAN: This race is just beginning. And while I'm supporting Hillary Clinton, this race is wide open. And we all know really the calendar for the primaries really affect the results. These races are not decided by national polls. They're decided -- especially by the momentum created by the early caucuses and primaries.
DOBBS: And with a number of states, including California, looking to move their primaries up to February, from what is it -- June or July now.
ZIMMERMAN: And perhaps New York, Florida, New Jersey...
DOBBS: What will be the impact?
ZIMMERMAN: Well, if they come quickly after New Hampshire, it minimizes the impact of New Hampshire.
ROLLINS: Here's the key though. The governor of New Hampshire Constitutionally sets the first primary. He's not set the date yet. He could put it on Thanksgiving Day, get this turkey over with. We could have all of the primaries done by Christmas, do our shopping, have our candidates picked and basically...
ZIMMERMAN: Don't put it past him to do it.
ROLLINS: .. and not bore our -- this thing is becoming so absurd, it's going to be $100 million race and no one's going to be able to raise the $100 million. We're going to have national primaries literally by mid-February and it's going to be absurd.
DOBBS: Let's talk about the Libby trial for a while, formally known as the CIA-White House leak trial. I thought former Senator Fred Thompson, former Watergate prosecutor, former prosecutor, federal prosecutor himself -- Patrick Fitzgerald, carrying on this case...
MOSBACHER: It's outrageous.
DOBBS: But that doesn't seem to be the reaction of anyone...
MOSBACHER: Well, because I don't think the American people understand how much of their tax dollars are spent on this ridiculous trial, tens of millions.
DOBBS: How about you, Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: Well, you're dealing with exposure of a CIA operative. And when you -- when Patrick Fitzgerald is exposing the internal machinations of this White House to create a political hatchet job because the truth is told, I think it's an important trial regardless of the result.
DOBBS: Regardless of the result? ZIMMERMAN: Yes, I do.
DOBBS: Now, would you be saying the same thing if this were circa 1995?
ZIMMERMAN: Why wouldn't i?
DOBBS: Because there would be a Democrat in the White House.
ZIMMERMAN: Let me tell you something. I was not hesitant to hold the Clinton administration accountable. I thought they were wrong as well on certain policy issues. This is really -- when you are talking about exposing CIA operative...
DOBBS: ... Richard Armitage is the known leaker in this case. Help me with this, he's the known leaker.
ZIMMERMAN: Exactly.
DOBBS: ... nobody's prosecuting him.
ZIMMERMAN: ... because the issue was whether Scooter Libby lied or not in terms of making a cover-up.
MOSBACHER: No, that wasn't the issue.
DOBBS: Covering up what?
That's what I don't understand.
ROLLINS: The issue was, originally -- and the problem with special prosecutors is they get to run amok. And they have for years, whether it's Democrats or Republicans. In fairness to Fred, Fred was on Nixon's side, he was on the defense side during the Watergate days. He was not a prosecutor.
DOBBS: I'm sorry, I misspoke.
ROLLINS: He was the minority council. He's a prosecutor now on "Law & Order", and a very good one, making more money than any of us. I love him to death. He was a great senator, too.
The bottom line is you had to prove that they deliberately knew she was a special agent and they went out -- Armitage, all of them did not know that. So he basically went out and got what he could get and I think...
DOBBS: We'll find the best in the nutshell encapsulation, but it still took so much time that we're...
ZIMMERMAN: I've got great faith in our system of justice. And whether it's Democrat or Republican...
DOBBS: I'm going to get a band for background for you if you keep this up.
ZIMMERMAN: I do. I absolutely -- bring out the orchestra because...
DOBBS: I would love to, but we're out of time because of that very, I thought, succinct and colorful encapsulation of what happened.
ROLLINS: Fred Thompson's career -- great career.
ZIMMERMAN: Great, great career.
DOBBS: Georgette Mosbacher, thanks for being here.
Ed Rollins, Robert Zimmerman.
Thanks for being with us tonight. Please join us tomorrow.
Thank you for watching.
Good night from New York.
The "SITUATION ROOM" begins now with Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
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