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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Communist China Flooding Nation With Dangerous Exports; State Department Struggles To Find Enough Volunteers; President Appeals to Congress About Surge Strategy; Projections for an Increase in California's Population; Immigration Controversy in Suffolk County, New York
Aired July 10, 2007 - ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Wolf.
Tonight, California faces a population crisis. The state's population growth is going to double over the next 40 years. Massive illegal immigration, the primary reason which could push California's vital services and its budget to the breaking point.
Also Communist China flooding this nation with dangerous food and other products. We'll have the story and the State Department struggling to find enough volunteers to serve in the U.S. embassy in Iraq. So diplomats could soon be ordered to serve in Iraq just as our soldiers, sailors and airmen and marines.
And among my guests tonight, Senator Olympia Snowe, Republican. Her support for the president's conduct of this war is changing. All of that, all of the day's news, and much more straight ahead tonight.
Good evening, everybody. Exactly six months after President Bush announced the surge strategy in Iraq, the president today appealed to Congress to give his strategy a chance to succeed. President Bush insists the United States can win the fight in Iraq, but Republican support for the war is splintering. Democrats escalating their demands for change. Senate minority leader, Senator Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid today said the surge has nothing to lessen the violence in Iraq. We begin our coverage tonight with Suzanne Malveaux at the White House -- Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Lou, this speech certainly wasn't what it was billed to be, a so-called post surge strategy, emphasizing the aftermath of all of this.
Instead, Lou, it is very much what we heard this president say time and time again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Despite Democrats' calls to bring American troops home and Republican pleas to change strategy, right now President Bush is refusing to do either.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can accomplish and win this fight in Iraq.
MALVEAUX: Mr. Bush used a town hall meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, to defend his Iraq strategy, which keeps the current level of U.S. troops in Iraq until his top general there, David Petraeus, instructs him otherwise.
BUSH: And that's the way I'm going to play it as commander in chief.
MALVEAUX: But the commander in chief is facing mounting political pressure to show progress in Iraq now.
BUSH: And I fully understand how tough it is on our psyche.
MALVEAUX: Mr. Bush will deliver within days an Iraq progress report expected to show that the Iraqi government has failed to meet nearly all of the benchmarks set by Congress.
Democratic lawmakers, eager to cut more funding and Republicans frustrated with the execution of the war, are running out of patience. Mr. Bush pleaded with them to give him until September, when General Petraeus will come back with another progress report.
BUSH: And I believe Congress ought to wait for General Petraeus to come back and give his assessment of the strategy that he's putting in place before they make any decisions.
MALVEAUX: But Mr. Bush's effort to buy more time may no longer work with the American people, analysts say.
JON ALTERMAN, CTR FOR STRATEGIC & INTL STUDIES: What time gets you is time lets you keep placing bets. But time doesn't mean that the bets pay off. And what you're seeing in Congress and among the American public is a sense, I'm tired of placing these bets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And Lou, the one message said the Bush administration keeps emphasizing here is that U.S. troops will come home when the situation on the ground in Iraq, the security situation, improves. Lou, that is the only thing, or one thing, this one thing that this administration has not figured out how to do. Lou?
DOBBS: Suzanne, thank you very much -- Suzanne Malveaux from the White House.
As the president appealed for more time, more patience to complete the mission in Iraq, leading Democrats demanded legislation to begin the withdrawal of our troops in four months.
The chairman of arms service committee, Senator Carl Levin, said our troops should end combat operations in Iraq by May of next year. But some senators did speak out in favor of the president's strategy. Dana Bash reports from Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The most high-profiled Senate supporter of the president's Iraq strategy pleaded with weary colleagues to give it more time.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I know that senators are tired of this war, tired of the mounting death toll.
BASH: Just back from Iraq, John McCain insisted there is progress, and warned fellow Republicans not to support legislation to bring troops home.
MCCAIN: Should the United States Senate seek to legislate an end to the strategy as it is just beginning, and we will fail for certain.
BASH: It was a coordinated effort by stalwart allies of the president on Iraq to try to break through the growing chorus of opposition.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: The war is not lost in Iraq. In fact now American and Iraqi security forces are winning. The enemy is on the run in Iraq.
BSAH: But the reality is supporters of the president's war policy are harder to find these days. Republican Olympia Snowe says she's fed up by the lack of progress by the Iraqi government, and for the first time, she will likely vote with the Democrats to withdraw U.S. troops by next April.
SEN. OLYMPIA SNOWE (R), MAINE: That should occur and send a very important message to the Iraqi government that our time has evaporated, along with our patience with respect to their failure.
BASH: And Democrats are engaged in a full-court press to turn high-profile GOP defections on Iraq into GOP votes to pull troops out.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: Do we continue to send our kids in the middle of a meat grinder based on a policy that is fundamentally flawed? I don't think there's a dozen Republicans on that side of the aisle who agree with the president's strategy.
BASH: Democrats even launched ads against Republicans up for re- election.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twelve times this year, Sununu voted to continue George Bush's open-ended commitment on Iraq. Tell him it's time to do the right thing, it's time to start bringing our troops home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Despite those Democratic efforts, it's clear from our discussions with GOP senators that most still will not back the Democrats' timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.
But they could have an alternative, rather, in the near future. Two influential GOP senators, John Warner and Dick Lugar, are both working together on new legislation, Lou, to try to change -- at least force a change in the president's Iraq strategy.
DOBBS: Forcing a change to include withdrawal?
BASH: That is a big, open question there. They're just starting to work on this legislation. We were told about it today. They are probably not going to unveil it until at least the end of the week.
But that is going to be really the key question, Lou, is whether or not it is going to have any kind of at least loose timeline for withdrawal from Iraq. That's certainly going to be what we will be watching in that legislation.
DOBBS: Dana, thank you -- Dana Bash from Capitol Hill.
Senator Snowe will join us here later in this broadcast. As the war in Iraq continues, tensions are rising in the Persian Gulf. The United States is sending another aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf. The USS Enterprise will be within striking distance of targets in Iran. Tehran continues to defy the world over its nuclear weapons program. The U.S. carrier's deployment also comes amid reports that Turkey has amassed 140,000 troops on its border with Iraq. The Enterprise strike group includes war ships and submarines armed with cruise missiles. Two other aircraft carriers, the USS Stennis and the Nimitz, their groups are already positioned in the Persian Gulf. If tensions were to subside, those carriers are expected to returning to their home ports.
In Iraq, two more of our troops have been killed. One killed in a mortar attack in the so-called Green Zone. The other died after what the military calls a non-combat incident -- 31 of our troops have been killed so far this month.
On average, three of our troops have been killed each day -- 3,609 of our troops killed since the beginning of the war; 26,695 of our troops wounded; 12,014 of them seriously.
A new public opinion poll shows the American people have almost run out of patience with the president's conduct of this war. More than seven in 10 voters now say most of our troops should leave Iraq by April next year. That according to the "USA Today"/Gallup poll. That poll also has some bad news for the president about his approval ratings. Bill Schneider has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Records are being broken, and we are not talking about the weather. A new Gallup/"USA Today" poll gives President Bush a record low job approval rating, 29 percent.
There's also a record high in the Gallup poll -- more than 60 percent of Americans now believe the Iraq war was a mistake. The troop buildup is now complete but only 22 percent of Americans believe the situation in Iraq is any better. The White House argues that it's too early to judge, that this is the beginning of the new policy, not the end.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What Congress is going to get this week is a snapshot at the beginning of a retooled mission in Iraq. Everybody says we want to do it another way. We agree. It's now started.
SCHNEIDER: Many members of Congress see this as the end, not the beginning.
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R), TENNESSE: There are a growing number of bipartisan senators, senators on both sides of the aisle, who are trying to come to a conclusion.
SCHNEIDER: What's driving them is the failure of the Iraqis to meet benchmarks for political settlement.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), ARMED SERVICES CHMN: Although the surge is now complete, there is no evidence of political progress on the part of Iraqi leaders, none whatsoever.
SCHNEIDER: Critics don't see a military failure on our part, they see a political failure on their part. The public has clearly run out of patience, 71 percent favor removing all U.S. troops from Iraq by next April, except for a limited number of counterterrorism forces -- 42 percent of Republicans agree. President Bush is pleading with Congress for more time.
BUSH: And I believe congress ought to wait for General Petraeus to come back and give his assessment of the strategy that he's putting in place before they make any decisions.
SCHNEIDER: The public said Congress can wait a couple of months for General Petraeus to report. Is it because they trust the president? More likely because they trust the military.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: Has any other president been this unpopular? Well, yes. Bush's father just before the voters fired him, Jimmy Carter, who also got fired, Richard Nixon before he resigned, and Harry Truman, who decided not to run for re-election. Not a happy company. Lou?
DOBBS: Bill, thank you very much -- Bill Schneider from Washington.
The Bush administration tonight also facing new criticism of its domestic policies. Democrats raising more questions about the conduct of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Those Democrats now demanding to know whether Gonzales misled a congressional committee two years ago when he said he was unaware of any civil liberty abuse by the FBI. A published report saying Gonzales received documents about FBI abuses before his testimony.
The Justice Department officials say any suggestions the attorney general failed to tell the truth are plain wrong.
Coming up next -- Senator Olympia Snowe joins us to talk about the rising GOP rebellion over the president's conduct of this war. Many of our diplomats are now refusing to serve in Iraq. They may be forced to go. We will have the story. Americans worried about dangerous imports from Communist China. We will have that story as well.
And a new setback for Senator John McCain's presidential ambitions. All of that and a great deal more still ahead right here. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: A new blow today to Senator John McCain's hopes for the GOP presidential nomination. His campaign manager, three other senior aides in his campaign, today quit. His fundraising numbers are down as well. The McCain campaign raising only $11 million in the second quarter. His poll numbers are sliding as well. The senator once the front runner, now his support among voters is down to just 17 percent. Candy Crowley has our report on the state of the McCain campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A major implosion in the presidential campaign of John McCain. His top two people, campaign manager Terry Nelson and senior advisor John Weaver are out. Two other senior aides followed suit. Washington is stunned. Weaver was John McCain's Karl Rove.
JILL ZUCKMAN, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: John Weaver was the person who was plotting Senator McCain's comeback over the last eight years. And he's the one who is responsible for creating the strategy that helped Senator McCain upset George W. Bush in New Hampshire in 2000. So it just seems -- it's hard to imagine Senator McCain campaigning without John Weaver by his side.
CROWLEY: In written statements, Weaver and Nelson praise McCain as the man who should be president. He praised their work for him.
Said one senior source -- "Weaver and Nelson did what was right for the candidate. They are taking responsibility for the screw-ups and overspending. They didn't think he had enough confidence in them anymore."
The departures are the most significant, but just the latest in a series of events that have turned the one presumed front runner into an underdog.
A media darling and a maverick who shook up George Bush in the 2000 presidential race, McCain's '08 campaign has paled by comparison. He was more mainstream than maverick. Critics said he looked like yesterday's news.
Despite efforts to reach out to party stalwarts whom he alienated in 2000, McCain has problems with some conservatives who still consider him too much of a maverick. His stewardship of the now failed immigration bill further infuriated right.
His campaign has spent too much money and raised too little. He was forced to lay off staff. Of the $24 million he has raised since the beginning of the year, McCain has about $2 million left.
Said one source "McCain went nuts about the overspending." The shake-up reignited persistent talk that McCain might abandon his bid. "Absolutely not" his campaign says. Solace came from a major competitor.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is way too early for anybody to be written off. John McCain is a fighter.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: In the hallway of the senate as he finished his speech on Iraq, McCain was pummeled with questions about the departures and what they mean for his campaign. "People can make their own assessments," he said. "I think we are doing fine. The campaign is going well." Lou?
DOBBS: Is this a set back that he's likely to recover from?
CROWLEY: Look, you know, this is a huge setback. And this is something, you know, that you can look at as half full or half empty. He needs to do something to shake up this campaign as we outlined in that piece. There have been lots of things going wrong here. I talked to one of his advisors who said, "Listen, we needed to have a fresh start. We needed to turn this corner. This is the place to do that."
DOBBS: Candy, thank you very much -- Candy Crowley from Washington.
In Iraq, a mortar and rocket attack in Baghdad today killed at least three people in the compound housing the U.S. embassy. The incident is likely to add to the problems the State Department now faces just trying to keep the embassy staffed.
It is the largest American embassy, and according to estimates, about 1,000 civilians are at work there -- 200 of them are foreign service professionals. The State Department is having significant trouble trying to find qualified personnel to accept assignments in Iraq. Louise Schiavone has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRSEPONDENT (voice-over): Foreign service in Iraq is a hardship affair. Unarmed civilians, untrained for combat, posted in the heart of Baghdad and roughly at a dozen outposts throughout the country, Fallujah, Ramadi, north Babel among them.
Postings like these are usually filled with volunteers, but that may be about to change. At the request of U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker, experienced foreign service members, some of whom may be burned out on war zone service, or who don't believe their lives are worth a policy or worth the risk, may soon be assigned to a posting in Iraq or lose their jobs.
SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPT SPOKESMAN: He made the request to beef up the political economic sections. We are going to do it. So it's not a matter of contention. Secretary Rice has said that if he needs it, he makes a legitimate case, he's going to get it.
SCHIAVONE: The 2008 postings for Iraq have assumed a unique importance at the State Department. This week for the first time, officials will be staffing Iraq positions before any others worldwide will be decided.
And official guidance, the State Department has declared, quote, "If we are unable to fill Iraq with qualified volunteers by the time the regular assignment cycle begins, employees with the necessary skills sets for unfilled Iraq jobs will be held back," unquote.
It's an issue with foreign service workers.
STEVE KASHKETT, AMER. FOREIGN SERVICE ASSN: Directed assignments, obviously, are problematical because then you're sending someone who did not choose to go. And that's often bad for the morale of the post and for the individuals.
SCHIAVONE: Unlike other war zones where extreme hazards lead to staffing draw-downs and even closings, the Bush administration is staffing up in Iraq. Congress is watching.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: I have never seen a situation where we try to send more people in, especially at enormous cost both to their safety and enormous financial costs. And nobody can tell me what this is accomplishing.
SCHIAVONE: Over the last five years, 2,000 members of the foreign service have volunteered for Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHIAVONE: Well, Lou, the question remains, what can they accomplish? Said one experienced diplomat, "What do you expect all of these diplomats to do in the middle of a war when they can only go out a couple of times a week in a heavily armored six-car convoy?" Lou?
DOBBS: The State Department, with all of its problems, unable to even maintain even a remotely respectable pace of renewing passports, unable to provide foreign service personnel to what is now the country's largest embassy. The State Department is in a real mess, Louise.
SCHIAVONE: The State Department is really losing the hearts and minds' war on this Iraq staffing issue. They are sending, they envision sending people to the embassy in Baghdad on a volunteer basis.
But the people who volunteered so far, people looking to get ahead in their careers, people who are junior level, the people who have been in war zones, who do have the Arabic-speaking qualification, they have already been in war-zone assignments, and they are not ready to go back to Baghdad.
DOBBS: They are also losing the hearts and minds of a lot of Americans, as you know, who can't get their passports back for four months or month. Louise Schiavone in Washington, thank you.
SCHIAVONE: Thank you.
DOBBS: Up next here -- a U.S. senator caught in a D.C. sex scandal. We'll have that story.
China sent us tainted fish, toxic pet food, dangerous toys for our children and more. But China's exports still in demand and their budget, their trade budget, just surging. We will have that report.
A local county fed up with federal inaction on illegal immigration taking action on its own. It is a familiar story. But there are forces working against them. We will tell you all about it next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Communist China's government said it is serious about improving the quality of food and other products manufactured and exported.
Today China executed the former head of its Food and Drug Safety Agency. He was convicted of taking almost $1 million in bribes for his approval of dangerous drugs. At least 10 people in china died as a result. Some say the harsh sentence was meant to send a message China is determined to improve its product safety.
But as we have been reporting on this broadcast, China's safety record is absolutely dismal. Many unsafe products have been exported to this country such as poisonous human and pet food, toxic toys, toothpaste and faulty tires.
Despite safety warnings from the United States and other nations, Communist China's export machine is hardly slowing. As Christine Romans reports, new figures from the Communist Chinese show record exports and a record surplus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been four months now since the recall of millions of bags of pet food, a stunning safety failure followed up by lead-painted toy trains and toxic toothpaste. And this doll, clearly a choking hazard. All of them made in China.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced recalls of 128 Chinese products, 68 percent of all recalls. The FDA has banned the sale of five kind of fish from China. The result -- China is exporting more than ever.
New Chinese custom statistics carried by their news agency said China's June surplus rose 85.5 percent compared to a year ago. For the first half of this year, the surplus jumped 83 percent.
GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR: Although the trade statistics for the first half were just gruesome, vis-a-vis China, I think what we are going to do later on is that China will not be exporting as much to the United States because the American consumer is just not going to use bad toothpaste or bad cat food.
ROMANS: Chang says if China cannot prove its products are safe, importers will switch to other sources. That could take six months. But the Chinese custom figures reveal that for now the world, and particularly Americans' appetite for cheap Chinese products, continues unabated.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D), MINNESOTA: We have a situation here where we have seen just a monumental increase in exports from China, particularly with toys and other items. And yet our agencies have not changed. No one is minding the store in the United States of America when it comes to these Chinese imports.
ROMANS: The U.S. is on track to top last year's record, $232 billion trade deficit with China, safety concerns or not.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Really a cascading series of faulty products and recalls, yet the appetite for Chinese products, Lou, is only growing.
DOBBS: It's interesting that Gordon Chang, who is an authority on China, believes that American consumers will start to exercise some caution and some hesitancy when it comes to buying those imports. It will be interesting to see if he's correct on that assessment.
ROMANS: He said there's more of a lag. He said that we will see in six or seven months if the Chinese can't prove that they are serious beyond executing someone, really proves they are serious, then there's no choice but to look for other foreign sources or domestic production here.
DOBBS: The fact of the matter is, this country is now in nearly every respect dependent upon China for so many of its exports. I'm not sure there is any room here to make a decision on the part of the American consumer. Christine, thank you - Christine Romans.
That brings us to the subject of our poll question. Do you believe the U.S. government and corporate America are responsible for American dependence on Chinese imports? Yes or no, cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll have those results here later.
Time now for some of your thoughts.
Barbara in New York said: "Hi, Lou. Unbelievable. We continue to receive interior, unsafe and downright dangerous products from Red China and now Chrysler wants to market a car made there. They'll deserve every lawsuit that comes their way."
Paul in Illinois: "My wife and I just came from an ACE hardware store. We went to see some on-sale items. Guess what? Every, yes, every one of them was made in China. I even wonder if they are safe. Keep up the crusade. We have become activists because of you."
We will have more of your thoughts here later in the broadcast.
Concerns about a weakening U.S. economy pushed the dollar to an all-time low today against the Euro. It now takes $1.37 to buy a Euro. The dollar is also losing way against the British pound. The dollar down more than one percent now, trading at a 26-year low against the pound sterling.
Up next, illegal immigration driving a population explosion in California. Vital services, the state's budget near the breaking point. We'll have that special report.
Also a community in New York state is caught between a federal government that does nothing to deal with our illegal immigration crisis and state lawmakers supporting the illegal alien open borders lobby. We will have the story.
And we will be joined by a leading senator who is going to be talking about Iraq and a senator who sins. We will have that story. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: That heat wave still roasting the country, now for more than a week.
Temperatures today soared into the upper '90s. In Washington, D.C. neighborhood cooling centers were open and remain open there. At least one school closed because of a lack of air conditioning. In New York City, some of the hottest temperatures in the Northeast prompting fears of a blackout. New York's mayor urging residents to use their air conditioners sparingly. More than a week of high temperatures in the West helping to keep fires blazing. Today gusting winds again hampered efforts to contain some of those fires. Firefighters are battling the biggest wildfire of all -- the biggest, in fact, ever in the State of Utah, now covering more than 460 square miles, only 10 percent contained. At times flames have jumped Interstate 15, adding to the firefighters' problems. Officials say securing the major north- south route remains a top priority.
The State of California is facing, among other things, a dramatic boom in its population. New projections from the state say California's population will jump 75 percent over the next 40 years. And Southern California's Riverside County can expect a population growth rate of more than 200 percent.
Casey Wian now reports on who will make up this rapidly growing population.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): Higher Hispanic birth rates, as well as legal and illegal immigration, will add more than 25 million people to California by the middle of this century. The state's Department of Finance projects California's population will grow to nearly 60 million by 2050, an increase of about 75 percent.
The report foreshadows a looming crisis. California already faces water and power shortages, decaying infrastructure, education funding gaps and a $92 billion debt. Urban planners say state officials need to wake up.
DOWELL MYERS, AUTHOR, "IMMIGRANTS AND BOOMERS: They've been asleep at the switch in past decades. We had a lot of growth before, in the '80s. And then they didn't do a whole lot to prepare for it. They were coasting on infrastructure that was put in place in the '60s. And that many requires more roads, it requires more infrastructure, it requires more housing. And it also generates a lot more business opportunities, too.
WIAN: And major demographic and cultural shifts.
Here's how California's population appeared in 2000 -- whites, 47 percent; Hispanics, 32 percent; Asians, 11; and blacks, 7 percent.
Fast forward to 2050 and the state predicts Hispanics will make up more than half its population, whites only about a fourth. The percentage of Asians will increase slightly, while only one in 20 Californians will be black.
MARY HEIM, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE: For Hispanics, almost 80 percent of the growth is due to natural increase or the excess of births over deaths. And it's just about the opposite for the Asians. Almost 80 percent of their growth is due to people moving to California either from other states or other countries.
WIAN: Los Angeles County faces an even more dramatic projected shift. The white population shrinks to 1.6 million, while Hispanics swell to 8.4 million. Put another way, L.A.'s Hispanic and Asian population is expected to double by 2050, while the number of whites and blacks will be cut in half.
Hispanics will outnumber whites more than five to one in Los Angeles, two to one statewide.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WIAN: Some urban planners say that's a good thing, arguing aging baby boomers will benefit from higher Hispanic birth rates and immigration. Those young people will presumably help support boomers in retirement, from paying Social Security taxes to buying their homes -- Lou. DOBBS: Well, if that works out as well as the suggestion illegal immigration is a boon to the state's economy, it, perhaps, should not give us an overwhelming sense of optimism.
The fact is, California's state economy is in crisis, as is Los Angeles County.
Any explanation offered by officials -- and that's now, hardly 40 years from now.
Any explanation from state and county officials?
WIAN: No explanation for how they're going to deal with it yet. The numbers have just come out this week. The Department of Finance says it's up to public policymakers to make the tough decisions as to how they're going to deal with what's an incredibly big population explosion -- Lou.
DOBBS: I can't help but laugh when you talk about tough decisions, because the way State of California has dealt with tough decisions so far, as you reported, Casey, is to mask them and to shunt them to the side, in keeping with what is a -- a national trend, at least one that has caught hold firmly in Washington, D.C.
Thank you very much.
Casey Wian from Los Angeles.
WIAN: OK.
DOBBS: Suffolk County, New York today is caught between a federal government that will not enforce a border security nor immigration law and a group of state legislators who want immigration law ignored. The County is defying the state legislature, taking steps on its own to control the illegal alien crisis in its community.
Bill Tucker has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): Few politicians are as popular as Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. Last February, 75 percent of the voters approved of the job he was doing, according to a poll by Strategic Planning. But that was before his fight with the New York State legislature that could cost his county $320 million.
Now his approval rating is approaching 80 percent.
Not everyone is happy with Levy, though.
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLYMAN: Many of us feel -- over 60 members of the legislature which signed onto this resolution -- feel that there is an air of intolerance in Suffolk County, somewhat reminiscent of the Deep South during the civil rights days.
TUCKER: The black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus wants to force Suffolk County to build a hiring hall for illegal immigrant laborers. The action leaves Suffolk County in a twilight zone of immigration law. The federal government won't enforce immigration law and now the New York State legislature wants the law ignored.
DAN STEIN, FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM: The state legislators are basically telling the County it has to violate the law. And what it does is create, as I say, a crisis of legitimacy. It strikes at the whole heart of our federal system, whereby states and counties have to comply with federal law.
TUCKER: But this is from a group which is also promoting giving voting rights to non-citizens, granting college assistance to children of illegal immigrants and making it harder for police to identify and deport those who are here illegally.
STEVE LEVY, SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECUTIVE: We're simply enforcing the law. And it's the first time I've ever seen state legislators ban together to try to punish and demonize elected officials on a local level for simply trying to enforce the law.
TUCKER: And enforcing the law has helped Levy, who has the endorsement of both the Republican and the Democrat Parties in his bid for re-election.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
TUCKER: And, interestingly, Levy finds himself in the same political situation as Hazleton, Pennsylvania Mayor Lou Barletta, who won both the Republican and the Democrat primaries in his bid for re- election in his hometown as well -- Lou.
DOBBS: OK, Bill.
Thank you very much.
Bill Tucker.
New developments tonight in a story this broadcast follows closely and reports on frequently.
We can report to you that the Senate Judiciary Committee today announced it will hold hearings on the prosecution of former Border Patrols Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. And the two men are serving now lengthy sentences for the shooting and wounding of an illegal alien drug dealer who was given immunity from prosecution by the Justice Department to testify against those two men.
Up next, the D.C. Madam escort service scandal. The first lawmaker has been implicated. A U.S. senator apologizing for what he terms a serious sin.
And the president's war strategy is alienating more and more members of his own party. Senator Olympia Snowe will be here.
And I'll be joined, as well, by four of the best radio talk show hosts here later in the broadcast. Stay with us.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: This week Democrats in the Senate are renewing a push to set a withdrawal date for the war in Iraq and to withdraw our troops. They are counting on Republican lawmakers -- lawmakers such as Senator Olympia Snowe -- to support them.
Senator Snowe joins us now.
Senator, good to have you with us.
SEN. OLYMPIA SNOWE (R), MAINE: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: You say you're considering supporting the legislation to be sponsored with -- that is being sponsored by Carl Levin and Senator Jack Reed.
Where are you in your thinking right now?
SNOWE: Well, I think -- overall, I think that they're pursuing the right strategy and the objective, to talk about a redeployment of the troops, as well as the reduction, and a change mission for the remainder of the troops that would be necessary to accomplish certain objectives, as establishing by the Iraq Study Group, like training of the Iraqi forces, counter-terrorism in fighting Al Qaeda and in force protection for our personnel and infrastructure.
DOBBS: What do you think of Senator Webb's introduction of legislation to give a commensurate amount of time at home to our troops as they serve on deployment in Iraq?
SNOWE: You know, absolutely. I mean that's one of the critical concerns about recruitment and retention and affecting those who are in our armed forces. With the extended deployment and shorter periods of time at home and the constant redeployment -- I know for so many of the troops and National Guard in my own state, that has been the case. And that's affected morale.
So I think that's moving in the right direction.
DOBBS: Senator, I would like you, if you would, to listen to some comments from Senator Bush today talking about yielding to -- President Bush's comments about yielding to political pressure on the issue of the conduct of the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The troop levels will be decided by our commanders on the ground, not by political figures in Washington, D.C. And that we've got a plan to lead to victory. And I fully understand that this is a difficult war. And so do the American people. But I will once again explain the consequences of failure to the American people and I will explain the consequences of success, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Your reaction, Senator?
SNOWE: Well, you know, I disagree with the president. It isn't about political pressure. It's about doing the right thing in responding to the circumstances on the ground.
And the president himself has said that the surge was designed to give the Iraqi government the necessary window of opportunity to achieve the political objectives. And by his own account, by his own commander and by Ambassador Crocker, who has indicated that probably won't even be accomplished by September, let alone with the interim report that will be released this weekend. They're saying that none of the political benchmarks have been accomplished.
And so I think, therefore, we ought to adjust our strategy in hopes that it will give some impetus to the Iraqi government that they need to move sooner. Otherwise, we have to shift our own strategy.
DOBBS: Senator, the American people hold Congress right now in extremely low esteem. They hold the president in low esteem. We are fighting a war now that has gone on for more than four years. None of what we were told would be accomplished has been accomplished in the occupation of Iraq.
What is the debate going to look like and what will be the consequences in the Middle East for U.S. interests should we withdraw our troops?
What will be the consequences if we fail as a nation to act responsibly in our interests?
And will we see that in the debate in the Senate -- an examination of the consequences of both courses of action, that is to stay the course, effectively what the president is saying, whether he calls this a new strategy or not, or a withdrawal?
SNOWE: Well, you know, I couldn't agree with you more, Lou, about the source -- the depth of frustration that exists. You know, I hear that, because I've tried to reach across the political aisle going back since last January and in developing a bipartisan strategy. And I hope that that can be forthcoming.
But we do have major interests in the region, in the Middle East. And I would hope that other countries would understand that we have to help by, I think, initiating a regional conference and making sure the countries in the region, and also the stakeholders within Iraq, develop a diplomatic approach. And that was one of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. Unfortunately, the president overlooked that initiative. It can't be a military solution. Even Commander Petraeus has said, you know, a military solution alone will not achieve the goals in Iraq.
So it has to be all combinations. I would hope that both sides can come together because the American people deserve that and certainly our men and women in uniform in Iraq right now deserve it more than anything.
DOBBS: Do you suppose in the deliberations and the debate that's going to take place here that the Senate might be disposed to consider whether or not it's appropriate to use our men and women in uniform to carry out nonmilitary goals in places like Iraq?
That is, I'm talking about the future deployment of our troops.
SNOWE: I think it has to be confined to, you know, military goals. And that's what our objectives have established, you know. In looking forward, as we begin, you know, potentially a redeployment and a change of mission, certainly that should be the case, and not going much beyond that.
I would hope that the United Nations and other organizations, other countries would understand that this is in their interests, as well, to work together. It's not just America's interests.
DOBBS: If I may say, Senator, I think now an urgent priority is that this nation and our government begin to understand our role in the world and to examine it thoroughly. We've (ph) began to process it.
We appreciate your being here to share your thoughts.
I know it's a difficult decision for you and a critically important one.
Senator Olympia Snowe, thanks for being with us.
SNOWE: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: A reminder now to vote in our poll -- do you believe the U.S. government and corporate America are responsible for American dependence on Chinese imports?
Cast your vote at loudobbs.com.
Will have those results coming up here in just a few minutes.
But first, four of the country's best radio talk show hosts join me.
And a family man and a senator admits to what he calls "a serious sin."
Stay with us.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: I'm joined now by four of the country's best radio talk show hosts -- Mark Simone, WABC; Roland Martin, WVON, Chicago, a CNN contributor; Warren Ballantine, WTPS in Raleigh, North Carolina; and from KHOW in Denver, Peter Boyles.
Good to have you all with us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Lou.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Glad to be here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.
DOBBS: I'm looking at the effect here with all of us on screen. That's very -- I mean it's startling.
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: Let me start, if I may, with you, Mark Simone.
The president, 29 percent in the polls. We've got a problem here.
MARK SIMONE, WABC: What do you mean we?
No, (INAUDIBLE) --
DOBBS: Well, I mean the nation. When we --
(LAUGHTER).
DOBBS: You know, I'd like to -- you know, I could cast this in political terms for the president, but he hasn't got much in the way of an election future. We do have some important questions on our leadership and we're the ones stuck with a leader who is in disfavor.
SIMONE: It's not only that. It's the Congress having that -- that low poll rating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
SIMONE: It's -- if you're disgusted with the Iraq War -- even if you believed in the mission, it's five years later. You know, if you had a plumber fixing your sink and you went in there five years later and he said, "It's going great, don't worry," you would think he was insane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SIMONE: Five years later, everybody is upset. And you don't know where to go because you don't see Democrats posing any credible alternative except to pull out and let another Darfur take place there.
DOBBS: Warren?
WARREN BALLANTINE, SYNDICATED ONE: Hey, Lou, I want to say hallelujah. And the reason why I want to say hallelujah is because finally the Congress is getting a backbone here. The Republicans are understanding that, hey, they need to get away from this president.
What makes a great leader is somebody who can adjust, who can see when something is wrong, they make the adjustments and they fix it.
And to President Bush, I just want to say this to you -- it's OK to be wrong. It's all right to come out and say I made a mistake. We will forgive you. That's what we do in America.
DOBBS: Peter, how do you feel?
PETER BOYLES, KHOW, DENVER: I said 29 percent, jeez, why is it so high?
(LAUGHTER).
DOBBS: Well, you know, to be honest with you, in our newsroom, we were sitting here trying to examine that. The fact of the matter is that Iraq is a critically important issue for this country, whether we move forward and stay the course with the president's so-called surge strategy or whether we withdraw our troops.
Your thoughts?
BOYLES: This is in such a quagmire right now. It really is reminiscent of the '60s. I start to see the parallels between Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon's secret plan to end a war -- which we now know never existed -- and the American people losing not only interest in the president, but interest in the Congress. I mean my colleagues were right. When you see them rivaling one another in these polls, my god, Lou, it's -- something has to happen and it has to happen and it has to be done right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's --
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: Well, what's your (INAUDIBLE), Mark?
ROLAND MARTIN, WVON, CHICAGO: I think something is really important. We've actually won the war in Iraq, OK?
The war was to take out Saddam Hussein. The war was to do that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the aim.
MARTIN: now, this is the post-war.
The problem is the president is still acting as if the war is going on.
BOYLES: he's changed the mission.
MARTIN: (INAUDIBLE) and also, what gets me (INAUDIBLE), Tony Snow within this whole deal is saying well, you know, this is not the end, this is the beginning, sort of like when I was in band, Lou. I would start some music off and I would start and stop. And then I would say well, don't judge me because I haven't got to the end yet. Yes, because you keep starting over.
MARK SIMONE, WABC: Well, nobody wants to stay there. But with Iran next door, with Turkey having troops on the border, with Al Qaeda waiting to move in there -- that's the question, finding a solution that -- that won't make things even worse.
MARTIN: well, and that's what happens when you decide to throw the guy out who -- I mean come on. I mean -- and we have accepted dictators before. Let's just be honest.
WARREN BALLANTINE, SYNDICATED ONE: Lou, one of the things, though, my audience, when we talk about this issue, one of the big things that I find to be prevalent throughout my audience is this -- simply the fact that President Bush and this Congress, everybody's tired of what's going on.
DOBBS: Yes.
BALLANTINE: And basically what they're saying is this -- if you guys don't do something, we're going to vote everybody out of office and put some new people in there. And I think that's (INAUDIBLE) --
DOBBS: Let me be the one to say --
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: wait, wait, Warren.
I've got to say hallelujah (INAUDIBLE), OK?
Today, the Republican senator from Louisiana, David Vitter, taking responsibility -- speaking of an unusual response -- for what he called "a serious sin." The father of four children saying that "several years ago I asked for and received forgiveness from god and from my wife in confession and marriage counseling." His name coming up -- his number, rather, coming up in the -- the escort -- the D.C. Escort service scandal.
Your reaction?
MARTIN: I'm not surprised at all. And, look, I mean this is going to ensnare Republicans and Democrats. And so at least he came out and jumped out in front of it.
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: -- hey, look, it was me. I apologized to god. My wife forgave me. He moved on.
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: (INAUDIBLE) before he got in office.
BOYLES: Don't you guys, though, expect him to go to alcohol treatment?
(LAUGHTER).
DOBBS: Well, it's unclear whether he was drinking at the time.
BOYLES: It doesn't matter. That's the out card now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, Lou --
MARTIN: But it happened before he was actually in office.
DOBBS: Right.
MARTIN: That's the other key.
(CROSSTALK)
BOYLES: No, he was a Congressman.
BALLANTINE: I think the key to --
DOBBS: He was.
BALLANTINE: -- to all of this is it's -- it's funny to me, every time somebody gets in trouble in this country, they find god. Paris Hilton found god in her 10 days in jail.
DOBBS: Yes.
BALLANTINE: Now the senator comes out and says, well, hey, I asked god for his forgiveness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well --
BALLANTINE: If he did do that and he did talk to his wife in advance --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys --
BALLANTINE:
-- then, you know what?
I'll give him a pass here.
BOYLES: All you have to do -- any time you hear one of these jokers say, I want to spend time -- more time with my family and they're --
(LAUGHTER).
BOYLES: -- or they want to go to alcohol treatment, the game's over.
SIMONE: At least the politicians are back with call girls. The interns are safe. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
(LAUGHTER).
DOBBS: The truth of the matter is, to be --
MARTIN: He owned up.
DOBBS: He -- that's what I was going to say. I want a -- I really think we need to give this man some credit.
MARTIN: Yes. Yes.
DOBBS: He -- hypocritical in the position that he took on espousing, with some righteousness, family values. But this man stood up. He didn't talk about going into rehab --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: -- or talking with Reverend Jackson or Reverend Falwell or any of this other stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His (INAUDIBLE).
DOBBS: He focused it on the issue and his own --
MARTIN: And that's what we ask of people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
MARTIN: And that's as simple as that.
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: Amen.
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: Pass the plate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Straight to god. That's what we want.
DOBBS: You guys, I didn't give you a single hallelujah.
Peter, I'm sorry.
BOYLES: God bless you, Lou.
Thank you.
DOBBS: Come back here in a couple of weeks and we'll get it done.
BOYLES: It's done.
DOBBS: All right, thank you all very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Lou.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this a Lou Dobbs revival?
(LAUGHTER).
DOBBS: Well, you know what?
Let's make it a national revival.
MARTIN: There you go.
(LAUGHTER).
DOBBS: Coming up at the top of the hour, "THE SITUATION ROOM".
A man who needs no revival, Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Lou.
Michael Moore -- he's back for more. The second part of my one- on-one interview about his controversial new film "Sicko".
He's fired up, taking aim at the news media, the Bush administration and others.
That's coming up, the full interview.
Plus, hundreds of cell phone customers disconnected by their provider because of too many phone calls they've been making to customer service.
Does the company have the right to fire its customers?
Also, we'll take you to one county considering a very tough crackdown on illegal immigration. We're going to show you the proposal some say simply goes way too far.
All of that coming up, Lou, right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
DOBBS: Thank you very much -- Wolf.
Coming up here next, the results of our poll. You don't want to miss it.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The results of our poll tonight, 98 percent of you say the United States government and corporate America are responsible for American dependence on Chinese imports.
We thank you for being with us tonight.
Please join us here tomorrow.
For all of us, thank you for watching.
Good night from New York. "THE SITUATION ROOM" begins now with Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
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