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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Water Resources Bill Veto Overriden; Home Foreclosures Soaring; Did Yahoo Help China? Bobby Jindal Interview
Aired November 06, 2007 - 19:00 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, stating new criticism of the federal government's outright failure to prevent the collapse of our consumer safety system in this country. President Bush today trying to reassure American consumers. Is the president still pandering to big business interests and corporate elite or is he starting to take note of something called an American citizen?
Also, border security advocates and Congress launch a counter offensive against socio-ethnocentric special interest and the big business pro illegal alien amnesty lobby. A large group of Republicans and Democratic lawmakers now trying to pass legislation that would secure our borders and ports before undertaking any change in U.S. immigration policy.
And we'll have an exclusive interview tonight with Senator Hillary Clinton who will tell us whether she is for or against Governor Spitzer's outrageous plan to give New York drivers' licenses to illegal aliens. We'll have that, all the day's news, and much more, straight ahead here tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: news, debate, and opinion for Tuesday, November 06. Live from New York, Lou Dobbs.
Good evening, everybody. President Bush tonight faces the biggest GOP revolt since the collapse of the so-called grand bargain on immigration overhaul. Nearly 150 Republican members of Congress today joined with Democrats in a vote to override the president's veto of a water resources bill. Lawmakers say the legislation includes vital improvements to our nation's waterways, but the president says the $23 billion bill is bloated with unnecessary spending and pork.
Jessica Yellin has our report from Washington -- Jessica.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lou, here are just some examples of projects in the water bill -- $10 million for flood control and ecosystem restoration in Savannah, Georgia; another $10 million in St. Louis, Missouri; another $10 million in Nashville, Tennessee. President Bush said that's way too much and vetoed the bill. But tonight, his Republican allies broke with him, and handed him a historic defeat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN (voice-over): You might recognize these Republicans as White House allies. But they sure didn't show it today.
REP. CANDICE MILLER (R), MICHIGAN: I would like to think about myself as a fiscal conservative, but part of that I believe it means being able to clearly make choices about priority spending. In my mind, these types of projects are priorities for our nation.
REP. JOHN MICA (R), FLORIDA: While I wholeheartedly respect the president's veto, we as Congress have a responsibility to provide for our nation's resources and infrastructure, provide the leadership to get that job done.
YELLIN: They voted to break with the president, and override his veto of the $23 billion water bill. The bill supporters say if you're a fan of clean drinking water, the wetlands, a functioning sewer system and rivers and dams, you should be a fan of this water bill. But Mr. Bush says it's bloated, filled with unnecessary pork barrel projects. For example, watchdog groups point to $2 billion for transportation improvements to part of the Mississippi River, which they say are unneeded. A few stallers (ph) took the president's side.
REP. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: There's something wrong with this picture. So, I think that we should sustain the president's veto. We need to be fiscally responsible, not just with the appropriations, but with authorizations, as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN: And Lou, in the end, it was a resounding defeat for President Bush and the White House. The real winner -- the Democrats, who can now say they engineered the first veto override of this presidency -- Lou.
DOBBS: Big night, and, a peculiar battle for the White House to take on, given especially the vote, the overwhelming vote in the Senate to begin with. What was the White House thinking here?
YELLIN: The rationale is the president wants to show he is a firm fiscal conservative. And he thought this was a good issue to show that on.
DOBBS: A firm fiscal conservative? This president has spent more money than any president since Lyndon Baines Johnson in terms of raising the federal budget.
YELLIN: And, yet, right now, he's showing that he wants to draw a firm line on spending, not only with this veto, but all the other authorizations bills.
DOBBS: Well, it would have been an interesting exercise had it occurred perhaps something other than his last year in office. Thank you Jessica Yellin for bringing us up to date from Capitol Hill.
The White House did win a battle on Capitol Hill today. The Senate Judiciary Committee voting to support now the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey as the new U.S. attorney general. That committee voted 11-8 to recommend Mukasey's nomination to the full Senate. The Senate is, after all the rhetoric and all of the partisan bickering and blasting, is expected to confirm Mukasey as our next attorney general next week. Many Democrats, however, remain opposed to Mukasey because Mukasey didn't say that a harsh interrogation technique called used against suspected terrorists called waterboarding a form of torture.
In Iraq, insurgents have killed another six of our troops in three separate attacks, five soldiers and one sailor losing their lives. Ten of our troops, one Defense Department civilian, killed in Iraq so far this month, 3,858 of our troops have been killed since the beginning of this war, 28,451 of our troops wounded, 12,770 of them seriously. So far this year, 855 of our troops have been killed in Iraq, which makes 2007 the deadliest year of the entire war for our troops. But the number of Americans killed each month has been declining since August.
Police in Pakistan today intensified their crackdown against opponents of President Musharraf. Police arrested dozens of protestors today; four days after President Musharraf declared a state of emergency or put into effect martial law. Thousands of attorneys have been leading the anti-government protest, but police have arrested 3,000 of those lawyers and judges. Pakistan's ousted chief justice today called on his supporters to continue to protest saying it is time for -- as he put it -- "sacrifice".
Anti-terrorist police in Europe arrested 20 radical Islamists in four nations. Those arrests took place in Britain, France, Portugal and Italy. Eleven of the suspects arrested in northern Italy. Police say they broke up a radical Islamist terrorist cell that was trying to recruit suicide bombers to carry out attacks in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
America's borders remain wide open to potential terrorists and illegal aliens despite assertions to the contrary from the Bush administration. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff today launched a public relations offensive, if you will, trying to convince Americans that our borders are now secure. But every day, there is new evidence of gaping hopes in border security and the consequences of those security failures for communities all across our nation.
Jeanne Meserve has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The jail is in Alamance County, North Carolina, but most of the prisoners are from away, far away. They are Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran, many of them illegal aliens rounded up by immigration and customs enforcement.
SHERIFF TERRY JOHNSON, ALAMANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: ICE has told us that they will fill all the beds that are available to them.
MESERVE: To the Department of Homeland Security, this is a demonstration of progress against illegal immigration. The number of illegal aliens apprehended at the southern border was down more than 20 percent last year.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We haven't completed the job yet, but we've made a significant first step in reversing the tide of illegal migration between the ports of entry.
MESERVE: Chertoff is promising more. He says DHS will complete 670 miles of border fence by the end of next year. More than doubling what they say they have now. And if Congress gives him the money, will boost the number of border patrol agents from 15,000 to 20,000 by the end of 2009. Chertoff threatens tough penalties for businesses who hire illegal immigrants, but is given hard-pressed industries like agriculture an alternative, streamlining a visa program that would bring workers into the country legally. He says his efforts will not stop there.
CHERTOFF: We will not give up. We will not lose our resolve. We will not lose our energy. We are going to continue to work as hard as we can. And overcome any road block that the law allows us to overcome, to complete the job of getting control of the border.
MESERVE: But back in Alamance County, there is skepticism that all that could be done is being done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, certainly, I do not feel the federal government is doing enough to fight the immigration problem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: The sheriff places some of the blame on members of Congress. Not surprisingly, so does Chertoff. He called on them to get serious again about what he calls intelligent sensible comprehensive immigration reform -- Lou.
DOBBS: And Jeanne, a wonderful perspective piece, putting us -- bringing us up to date. It is also clear that the Department of Homeland Security is forcing the U.S. border patrol and those agents and the customs and border patrol services, citizenship, immigration services, and immigration and customs enforcement for internal security. They are operating without resources, with their hands tied behind their back. And most of the reason for that is a lack of will and direction on the part of this administration.
Jeanne Meserve, thank you very much for that report from Washington.
Coming up next, members of Congress are seething with anger over the federal government's failure to protect you, American consumers. Lisa Sylvester will have our report -- Lisa.
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, lawmakers ripped the Consumer Product Safety Commission for failing to keep dangerous toys and other products out of the hands of children and consumers. There are two proposals for improving import safety, but will it be enough? Lou?
DOBBS: Well, it is certainly late, but we will have that report next. Thank you, Lisa.
Also millions of families are in danger now of losing their homes. But the Bush administration is it too busy to help because it is bailing out big banks?
And a rising number of Republican and Democratic lawmakers have had a belly full of the pro amnesty lobby and corporate special interests socio ethnocentric interests and those lawmakers are getting together and they are demanding, guess what, border security, and now. Imagine that. We'll be back with that story, and the rest of the day's news. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The Consumer Product Safety Commission as we've documented on this broadcast for years, is simply failing the American consumer. The agency's acting chief back on Capitol Hill today there to defend her organization and her decision to accept free trips from the very same companies and industries she's supposed to be regulating. Today's hearing comes as the Bush administration unveils a plan that it now says will finally protect some American consumers from the dangerous products that we're importing into this country.
Lisa Sylvester has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The chair recommends...
SYLVESTER (voice-over): The Consumer Product Safety Commission was described by one witness as an agency withering on the vine. Representative Edward Markey used even stronger language.
REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: CPSC used to stand for Consumer Product Safety Commission. Today, it stands for can't protect the safety of children commission.
SYLVESTER: The regulatory agency has lost 15 percent of its work force in the last three years. It has no full-time inspectors at any of the U.S. ports, and inspects less than one percent of the foreign products entering the country. As foreign imports have grown, so have the number of toy recalls.
REP. MICHAEL BURGESS (R), TEXAS: You couldn't even turn on Lou Dobbs without them flashing something up there about, this is recalled today, and what's going to be recalled tomorrow.
SYLVESTER: CPSC acting chair Nancy Nord has resisted calls by some lawmakers to resign and sought to clarify information. For example, that the consumer agency has only one toy tester.
NANCY NORD, ACTING CHAIRMAN, CPSC: That is just an inaccurate statement. It is an urban myth. It has grown up around us and it is really, really time that it be put to rest.
SYLVESTER: She says they have at least 60 people testing toys as part of their duties. A House bipartisan bill would increase the CPSC's budget, would require third party testing for children's products, increase its civil penalties, and reduces the amount of lead acceptable in toys. The legislation comes as the Bush administration tries to step up import safety. President Bush announced a plan that would impact not just imported toys, but also other consumer products, food and medicine.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need to do more to ensure that American families have confidence in what they find on our store shelves.
SYLVESTER: The import safety panel recommends empowering the Food and Drug Administration to order mandatory recalls. Placing more U.S. federal inspectors overseas, and establishing a certification for importers with a strong safety track record.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: Nord and her predecessor have also been criticized for taking trips paid for by special interest groups that the Consumer Product Safety Commission regulates. She said the practice is not illegal and has been in place for the last 20 years, and added, given the limited enforcement, although she would rather spend $900 in a laboratory than on air fare and hotel. Lou?
DOBBS: What did -- how did they react to that kind of utter complete nonsense from the acting head, mercifully, the acting head of a critically important agency like this?
SYLVESTER: Well in this case, Nancy Nord you know she has had opportunities in the past to ask appropriators for more money, she has not done that. And now to say that, well, the money is not there, that's why we accepted the special interest money. It's just not flying with many members of Congress, Lou.
DOBBS: Well are they basically reacting with a disgust that one would hope for those who are there to do the people's business? To represent the people, supposed to being protected by this agency, this administration?
SYLVESTER: It's like there's been a wake-up call and suddenly somebody has shaken up the CPSC and saying, where have you been? Why have you not been doing your job? The lawmakers have been slow to keep up on the CPSC to make sure that they have been doing what they are tasked with doing, Lou.
DOBBS: And the administration, the president, actually, dealing with the issue of consumer safety. I mean -- I have to say, I'm shocked, utterly shocked that this president has awakened to the fact that consumers are also citizens and deserve the protection of this government that he allegedly runs. This is a remarkable, even though late statement on his part.
It must mean that consumers are not buying those products. And that there's been a real slowdown in the purchases of some of those imports, out of concern for safety on the part of American consumers, otherwise, I can't imagine this president taking any action or his administration taking any action whatsoever.
SYLVESTER: And we do have the holiday season coming up, and I think that that speaks volumes, too, Lou.
DOBBS: You are exactly right. Lisa, thank you very much -- Lisa Sylvester reporting from Washington.
Well, the issue is to sue or not to sue. It seems to be a dilemma in communist China. First reports broadcast by the BBC and wire services, quoting that "China Daily" is reporting that officials in (INAUDIBLE) province were preparing to file a lawsuit against U.S. toy company Mattel, saying their reputation had been harmed. The reports reporting by Mattel's initial finger pointing that held the Chinese factories responsible for those bad toys that made Mattel have to recall them.
And had to -- explain at least to its shareholders what was going on, if not American consumers. Never mind that Mattel actually apologized to the Chinese, not the Americans, and said the recalls were their own fault. Officials were quoted in those reports as saying, "they would seek billions of dollars in restitution for China for Mattel's initial lifeless (ph) behavior."
The "Financial Times", however, quoting The "South China Morning Post" says, "apparently there's been a change of heart in the communist government", at a higher level, perhaps. The officials saying no suit will be filed. The mainland (ph) reporters got the story wrong. The "Financial Times" reported they won't hurt, Mattel, they said, because that is their factory's biggest client.
We will keep you posted on what is happening. Mattel is by the way the world's largest toy brand, and it is just to be timely about it all, recalling more of those toys tonight. This time, the toys were manufactured in Mexico. Mattel is pulling 155,000 of its Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Learning Kitchen toys. The Consumer Protection Safety Commission and Fisher Price saying those toys contain small parts that can cause choking. Mattel has recalled more than 20 million toys just so far this year. That's 20 million.
That brings us to the subject of our poll tonight.
Are you disgusted that it took the Bush administration so long to respond to protect American consumers? Yes or no, please cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. By the way, while you are there at LouDobbs.com, we'll have a complete list of the recalls that are underway for your protection and for your information.
We'll have the results of our poll here later in the broadcast.
The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee today blasted Yahoo!'s CEO. Yahoo! admitted helping communist China identify a Chinese dissident who was later imprisoned by the Chinese government. He is now serving a 10-year prison sentence. Committee Chairman Congressman Tom Lantos told Yahoo!'s CEO, (INAUDIBLE) quote, "while technologically and financially, you are giants, morally, you are pygmies." Yang did apologize to the committee and the dissident's family. A bill pending now in the House is designed to prevent companies such as Yahoo! from cooperating with oppressive governments. Yang (ph) wouldn't endorse the legislation and Yahoo! wouldn't commit to financially assist the imprisoned dissident's family.
We will keep Tom Lantos comments up for the consideration of all who are leading business in this country. Just for your consideration, and reflection over the years ahead.
Time now for some of your thoughts.
Richelle in Oklahoma wrote in to say, "Lou, I love your new time. I can get home from work, get the livestock fed, and tonight I even helped my fried set two corner posts before your show." Well we're delighted that it works for you, and we thank you for sticking with us.
And Hillous in Kentucky said, "Hi Lou, prime time, now that's where you belong. You're the Paul Revere of our time. You hang in there, a Lou Dobbs voter." And we thank you for that. The nation thanks you for that.
And Bette in California said, "I am now an independent voter. Thanks for being a great American who loves our country." Thank you and, all of the independents who are going to make a difference in 2008.
Mike in Ohio said, "Just returned from the polls. My U.S. passport was rejected as a valid form of I.D. They needed to see a utility bill or driver's license. Good thing I don't live in New York. Keep up the good fight." We certainly will.
We will have more of your e-mails here later in the broadcast.
Also ahead, presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton explaining her position on drivers' licenses for illegal aliens. It's an explanation. We'll see what you think of it as the senator speaks volumes.
And home foreclosures are skyrocketing in this country, your government stepping in to help the banks. What about the people who will be forced to leave their homes? We'll have that report. And I'll have a few thoughts. Stay with us. We'll continue in one moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: We have reported repeatedly here that the Bush administration is more concerned with bailing out financial institutions than with helping working men and women in this country and their families. As Kitty Pilgrim now reports, a new plan will do little to help middle class Americans, and a great deal for those institutions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A million foreclosures last year. Two million more predicted in the next 18 months. Congressional hearings spelled out what this means for middle class Americans.
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), FINANCIAL SERVICES CHMN.: We have a large number of people in this country who are making, what, 30,000 to 50,000, $60,000 a year, they took out mortgages, they are working hard to pay their mortgages, and they are among the victims of a widespread foreclosure pattern.
PILGRIM: Foreclosures are depressing property values. The Center for American Progress, a think tank which has done many studies on this, estimates 38 percent of homeowners who took out an adjustable rate mortgages last year now owe more than their home is worth because of declining values. Forty-five out of 50 states show an increase in foreclosures with California, Florida, Ohio, Texas and Michigan hardest hit. But while big banks discuss a $100 billion bailout fund to back up shaky mortgages and other securities, homeowners are getting practically no help from the Bush administration.
REP. BRAD MILLER (D), NORTH CAROLINA: The administration, with all of the policy analysts, all the departments that should have a piece of this, HUD and Treasury and everybody else has really come up with very, very little.
PILGRIM: The U.S. Treasury Department is promoting letters from HOPE NOW, a consortment (ph) of lenders and counselors, those letters being sent to 250,000 homeowners at risk of default, offering help. But HOPE NOW admits it is the same type of letter banks typically send to people in trouble with their mortgages only with a new HOPE NOW letterhead. Lending experts say it is practically worthless.
ANDREW JAKABOVICS, CTR. FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Anyone who is caught in the underwater, in other words, they owe more on their home than its worth are not going to be able to be helped by any of the programs that are currently up for discussion.
PILGRIM: A recent national study found banks only modified one percent of mortgages to help borrowers struggling with rising mortgage costs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now, House committee is expected to pass an anti- predatory lending bill this evening, but many will say that will protect people in the future. For now, millions are on the brink of losing their homes with little clear relief spelled out for them from Washington, Lou.
DOBBS: And Congress is not acting here and the idea that this administration, you know -- Secretary Paulison. Let's just make it really clear. You may have been a little brain child sitting in New York City on Wall Street, leading an investment bank, a brokerage, but I got to tell you, the way you are acting, it's disgusting. You are the Treasury secretary. You are supposed to have more character and more capacity and more concern for the American people than you are for a bunch of bankers who are over their heads.
You must be over your head, as well. How about we try this? Is anybody in Washington thinking about this, just a thought? Just something maybe somebody could consider. You know if we have $100 billion that's going to be pooled for these money center banks and some of the larger investment brokers, the fact of the matter is, that $100 billion could buy Treasury, be directed through those institutions back to the people who are underwater with those mortgages, who are facing resets and armed recalculations on their mortgages.
This is not that complicated. And, by the way, the geniuses who have gotten this country in this mess, maybe as much as a trillion dollars in these absurd credits, maybe if they would just deal with the simple straightforward fact that this is about people, not about their institutions. It's ridiculous.
PILGRIM: The HOPE NOW letters that are being sent out, very few people will qualify for any assistance under this as it is structured now.
DOBBS: And you know what I really -- I have a vision of George Bush and Paulison and the boys, the girls, sitting there, in the White House, sort of twirling (ph) saying, well, we did our best, but you know that just didn't work out. Our so-called ownership society just didn't make the break in 2007, and those poor dummies, but at least we saved those Wall Street banks.
And, I swear to you, I don't think it takes much imagination to see them and hear them doing precisely that. Get off your rear ends and get to work, and do something of which you can be proud instead of something for which the American people hold you in contempt. How about that, Mr. Bush? Thank you very much, Kitty Pilgrim.
Crude oil prices continue to soar. Their cost and you are going to see a lot of great leadership out of this administration on this issue, too. Just hold it, whether you are Republican or Democrat, just hang in there because you are going to see Washington really seize this issue. The cost of crude oil today rising to more than $97 a barrel at one point, the dollar at a new all-time low against the euro, taking $1.46 now to buy that euro. And, of course, Henry Paulison has that solution all worked out, stand by as the Bush administration asserts its governance and its awesome leadership.
Up next, Senator Hillary Clinton, trying to end the controversy over her waffling about a driver's license plan by Prince Eliot in New York, to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. She'll set the record straight in just a moment here. Also, with Candy Crowley, our senior political correspondent.
And did Barack Obama block the presidential ambitions of Stephen Colbert? Well, I'm going to take that issue up and other burning issues. I'll take it up with three top radio talk show hosts, who are probably just as outraged as I am.
And a rising backlash in our Congress against the illegal alien amnesty open borders lobby socioethno special interests who are driving amnesty and open borders, and the corporate elites who think you don't move up to a hill of beans. We'll have a special report. All of that and more, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: A new national poll confirming Americans overwhelmingly oppose to the giving of driver's licenses to illegal aliens. 77 percent of those surveyed in "Washington Times" reports poll opposing those licenses for illegal aliens. 88 percent of republicans opposed in the survey, 75 percent of independents, 68 percent of democrats. Across the board, New York's Governor Eliot Spitzer facing that level of opposition to his outrageous proposal to give driver's licenses away to illegal aliens. And presidential candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton, supporting the governor, is feeling the heat, as well.
Former president Bill Clinton went to his wife's defense on the issue last night, by golly. He compared the criticism of her position to the anti-John Kerry ads, saying, "I had the feeling that at the end of that last debate, we were about to get into cutesy land again." And the former president said the driver's license issue is a complicated one, too complicated for a yes or no answer. He said, "It's fine for Hillary and all the other democrats to discuss Governor Spitzer's plan. But not in 30 seconds. Yes, no, raise your hand." Whoa. Senator Clinton today used almost identical language when asked about the Spitzer plan by our own Candy Crowley. Candy is in Newton, Iowa, joining us now. Candy, did Senator Clinton give you a straight answer or does she still feel like she was swift boated?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me set this up for you. The question to her was, would this be correct if I wrote it. Barring a bill on illegal immigration, Hillary Clinton supports driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. Here is what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: No, what I've said is that I support what governors are trying to do. And governors are on the front lines because of the failures to get comprehensive immigration reform. There are already eight states that issue driver's licenses without any verification of citizenship. That's a decision that the government nor and legislatures and the people of those states have made.
CROWLEY: Do you see why people think that you're not answering the question?
CLINTON: Well, but I think that if you go back and look at the complexity of this issue, I don't think a lot of these hard questions lend themselves to raising your hand. And I know that's easier in a 30-second, you know, context to try to do. I think the fact that governors are being forced into this position is really unfortunate. They should not be making immigration policy. The federal government should be making that policy. And that's what I'm going to try to do as president, again, and, I do not believe that in the context of federal immigration reform that that would be an issue that governors would have to contend with.
CROWLEY: So, it's -- I know it's not a yes or no question to you. You've had some time here, and the problem is that people can't quite get a hold of is, for a governor, at this time, do you think it's a good idea for them to offer driver's licenses to illegal immigrants?
CLINTON: It depends on the state they're in. It depends up what they think the risks are. You know, a governor of New York that has a lot of immigrants, many of whom we know are not there legally, has to worry about security. A governor of another state, where that's not a problem, doesn't. You know, this issue has been so politicized, and I understand that, because, you know, you can score points. You can score all kinds of political points.
But the fact is, if we don't have comprehensive immigration reform, which includes toughening the borders, much harder sanctions on employers, doing more to help with local comment that as are stuck with the bill for all kinds of services, and bringing immigrants out of the shadows. And if they committed a crime where they came from, here, or immediately deport them. But for the others, have a tough path to earn legalization. Pay back taxes, pay fines, learn English, wait in line.
Once you've got somebody on the record, registered, deported the criminals, and said they had to keep on the right side of the law, keep making a living, and do all of these other things I've outlined, that would be the appropriate time to give them some kind of license. But I understand. And, you know, I'm not going to be second guessing governors who have to do the hard work of figuring out what is best for their states.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: So, Lou, your original question was did she answer the question? I'm going to hand it back to you.
DOBBS: I thank you for handing it back. I found the answer -- you gave her an amazing amount of time in television terms, as we did. You know this is a woman who said that she did support, broadly, and, the fact that this is a senator who has supported the dream act, comprehensive immigration reform, it's pretty clear. I can be very succinct if the senator cannot. Her support of Eliot Spitzer is in point of fact and in my judgment very poor policy. And, her support of the dream act is amnesty, as is her support of comprehensive immigration reform. And I think we need to point out, Senator Obama is in the same position. The Democratic Party, the democratic leadership and Congress is in the same position, and, a good part of the republicans, for crying out loud, Candy.
CROWLEY: Well, you know, I think, at this point, the political calculation for democrats, anyway, is that there are a number of voting groups out there that they believe favor what, you know, the pathway to freedom, amnesty, whatever you want to call it, and, they ...
DOBBS: We call it amnesty.
CROWLEY: On the safe side of this in the primary.
DOBBS: They may be on the safe said in the primary, but this is a devastating position for people to be taking based on a primary, go out. It would seem to me to be a devastating position, and then trying to rectify that with the general public who is opposed to these driver's licenses, opposed to amnesty, insistent upon border security, which this administration and the democratic leadership of Congress, and these candidates for president, and frankly, in both parties, with the exception of a number in the Republican Party, have failed to provide direction.
Candy, thank you. That was a wonderful try. I don't think any journalist in the country could have done better, and certainly, if they could have, I don't think they'll ever have the opportunity. So, we thank you for trying to get the record set straight. I'm sure Senator Clinton is thrilled that you did, as well. Candy, thank you very much. Candy Crowley.
Up next, a new Congressional push for border security. Amnesty isn't on this agenda. Imagine this. Border security, port security, national security.
Also, an incoming governor, the nation's youngest. A radical new vision for his state. We'll meet him here later in the broadcast.
And did supporters for Barack Obama push South Carolina's democrats to bump Stephen Colbert from the state's presidential ballot? We'll be talking about that and much more. I'll be talking with three of the nation's most popular radio talk radio hosts here. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: I'm joined now by three of my favorite radio talk show hosts in the country. Steve Cochran out in WGN in Chicago, his program is being similar cast over -- well, we are being similar cast over WGN. He's working there.
STEVE COCHRAN, WGN IN CHICAGO: We share. We share.
DOBBS: I'll get it right. Woodward, anyway, welcome to CNN, partner.
COCHRAN: Thanks.
DOBBS: Charles Goyette, out in KFNX in Phoenix. Good to have you, Charles.
CHARLES GOYETTE, NFNX IN PHOENIX: Hi, Lou.
DOBBS: And Joe Madison, we're fortunate to have here in New York City, WOL in Washington. And, XM Radio. You always think I'm going to forget that.
JOE MADISON, WOL IN WASHINGTON: My wife thinks you are going to forget it.
DOBBS: She just knows how old I am and possibility. Let's start with this, Joe, the idea that Senator Clinton is still trying to explain her position on driver's licenses, and that this, the New York still has a governor that thinks it makes public policy sense.
MADISON: I was in New York, Binghamton I think it was this past weekend. They've got a progressive member there. I talked to a lot of people. It was an NAACP dinner and I got to tell you, not one person was supporting the governor. Not one. Not a single person. And there were elected officials there. Today on my show, I said, well, I'm going to be on Lou Dobbs, so, I'm going to do a poll. Unscientific, let's just take the calls. And unscreened. We're not going to screen them. 100 percent of the callers from all over the country, border to border, as we say on XM, border to border, not one person agreed with this governor. Everybody was opposed to it. And there was some spicy language that people used. So, it's now a national issue.
DOBBS: What's the situation in Chicago, Steve? I know that's -- beginning discussion there, at least.
COCHRAN: Well, I think you know how I feel about it, and, everybody that gets on the program tends to agree with me, because I hired the right people to screen the calls. No, the truth of the matter is, and I'm just stunned by this, the vast middle of this country, the majority of the people that haven't been heard from yet want no part of this. And if I were a candidate running for the White House, whether it's Senator Clinton or anybody else, I would go as far as way from this as possible. But maybe do something crazy and tell the truth. And then say, we need to look at this and take a fundamental approach to it that certainly doesn't start with giving driver's licenses to people whose status we can't clear up.
DOBBS: I wish I could recall the exact quote and I'm sure that one of our viewers will help us or perhaps one of you but Abraham Lincoln said that this republican will survive so long as our leaders adhere to the common sense and the will of the American people. But relate to that common sense. And, we're seeing elected officials of all kinds, of all kinds, of all stripes, in all sorts of states and jurisdictions. They are out of their minds. But we've got hope, because we have all the candidates running for president, Charles, have you got a favorite among them? For crying out loud, the libertarian was is raising more money than anybody else it appears.
COCHRAN: In one day.
GOYETTE: And you know what it is? This is a slap in the face of the governing classes. Lou, I finally figured out that it's a class warfare problem. I watched the poll numbers you put out. Democrats, independents, republicans, none of them want driver's license for aliens. The governing class wants them. The governing class wants open borders. The governing class wants to destroy the dollar. The governing class likes $96 a barrel oil. But so, finally, there's a slap in the face of the governing classes yesterday. Instead of a top down movement, there is a bottom up movement about Ron Paul. And it astonishes all the usual suspects in Washington. They are scratching their head, saying, well wait, we didn't know this thing was bubbling out there in flyover country in America. 37,000 people in one day raising $4.2 million for Ron Paul. There's something going on.
COCHRAN: I would like to say that's great news for Ron Paul, but I'm not sure it is. I think he makes some great point. I'm firmly behind him on a lot of different issues the Ron Paul big fund-raising push at that point says more about the fact that none of these candidates are getting through, and people are desperate for an alternative that they really feel good about.
MADISON: Well it also says, and that is, that Ron Paul will be in this to the end.
COCHRAN: Which is a good thing.
MADISON: And that is a good thing. So the discourse will be quite different, because he is in it. I don't agree, particularly his position on public education, the department of education, but everybody has -- I think, agrees. This is bottom up. That's what's ruling this country right now.
DOBBS: And a few people styling it kleptocracy. I'm an independent populous. What I got a kick of the other day in the "New York Times," Paul Kurdman is out on a book tour. He's running into people who are populous and you can imagine this guys and economic populous and he's running into American citizens who actually want representation in Washington, think that he they should possess the American dream and hand it onto their children. And he's shocked that people aren't identifying themselves as liberals or conservatives or progressives or republicans or democrats.
COCHRAN: He needs to get out of the office a little bit, doesn't he?
DOBBS: It's incredible. You get the last word, Charles.
GOYETTE: All right, all I can tell you is, there is something going on here. It looks like a prairie fire out here in flyover country. The pundits and the usual suspects are surprised about it, but it is going to continue to grow. Because people are tired of the governing classes of America.
MADISON: I gave you a hat. U.S. border patrol. I was there in Mack Allen, Texas, they said this is Lou Dobbs' hat.
GOYETTE: That's very kind.
MADISON: There you are.
COCHRAN: You didn't bring one for the whole class. Send one out to Chicago.
DOBBS: It's going to happen. I'll make sure. I like I look -- I don't look as --
MADISON: Fly me out to Chicago.
COCHRAN: All about the free ticket.
DOBBS: I don't look as dashing as those folks.
GOYETTE: You look good.
DOBBS: But I appreciate the thought.
MADISON: You look kind of cool, Mr. Dobbs.
DOBBS: Kind of cool is about as close to cool as I'm going to get. Charles, thank you.
COCHRAN: Based on hairline, I think I'm the guy that needs the hat, OK?
DOBBS: We'll take a vote. All right. Thanks, Steve. Thank you very much, Joe.
Coming up at the top of the hour, "OUT IN THE OPEN" with Rick Sanchez. Rick.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I like the cap. It fits the nickname. Primetime. I saw one of your viewers wrote you calling you primetime. I love that.
DOBBS: You know you have labeled me here, and of all the labels that I get from time to time, primetime isn't bad. Deion Sanders, eat your heart out.
SANCHEZ: There you go, primetime. Listen. You know, you talk about ICE all the time, and things that are done, let's just say, in a stupid fashion in government. You remember the thing a week and a half ago when FEMA had a news conference with pretend reporters? Well, ICE has now had this incident where they had a party, a costume party. One of the guys showed up in a version of black face, dreadlocks, and a uniform as prison garb, you know, with the stripes and the whole nine things. Well, the director of ICE decides that she's going to stand next to him and take a picture and actually give him sort of an award for this, for best originality, I believe it is. This is crazy. Obviously, it's somewhere between racism, insensitivity, and stupidity, and we are all over it. And we have you checking in on the privilege card thing and the illegal immigrants, and O.J. Simpson. This is cool. The guy who was the fellow in the hotel room when O.J. Simpson busted in with his buddies and his armed robbery thing. He had a heart attack right afterward. Hasn't talked to anybody since. We have him tonight.
DOBBS: You got him? You got him right there "OUT IN THE OPEN?"
SANCHEZ: No, no, we got him out in Las Vegas, where he is going to give us an interview.
DOBBS: I got to tell you. You've got it covered tonight, Rick, by golly. SANCHEZ: We are there for you.
DOBBS: All right, partner.
SANCHEZ: I love the hat.
DOBBS: Appreciate it, Rick Sanchez. Coming up next, a bipartisan effort in Congress to actually enforce our nation's immigrant laws. We'll have that special report.
And an incoming governor, the nation's youngest governor in fact is demanding changes to a corrupt political system. He has inordinate challenges and I'll tell you what. If first impressions are any basis, I think this fellow will get it done. Stay with us. You'll meet him, next.
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DOBBS: The incoming governor of the state of Louisiana faces the daunting task of bringing his state back from the devastation of hurricane Katrina and Governor Elect Bobby Jindal is a second-term congressman, as well. He won election with 54 percent of the vote. The governor elect says, defeating corruption in his state is critical to rebuilding Louisiana.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: I think most people watching and listening to you have to think, my goodness. What in the world is this fellow thinking about, governor of Louisiana, taking on all of the problems, post-Katrina, all of the issues that confront that state, the issues of leadership. Aren't you in the least, in the least daunted by the challenges?
GOV.-ELECT BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: Well, you know, Louisiana is a great state. It is Lou. So many of the challenges facing our state resonate with what you talk about on your show. It's about jobs and opportunity. We're not a poor state. We've had poor leadership. We've had a bad tax structure. We've had poor education. We've had corruption hold us back. But you look at Louisiana, we're a state that's blessed. Five of the nation's largest ports; 30 percent of the oil and gas; 30 percent of the fisheries. By any objective standard, we should be running circles around every state in the country. We have a great opportunity ahead of us.
DOBBS: Louisiana, as with some other states, facing issues of corruption, the incompetence of leadership in times past. It is also a state where, as you say, with investment, with commitment to the people of the state, it seems much could be done, how soon can you act, how soon can you make the changes you seek?
JINDAL: Let me tell you the three critical changes we've got to make and let's be clear, Katrina and Rita were awful storms. But they didn't cause all of the damage. They revealed a lot of our problems. They have given us an opportunity to fix things that were long broken well before the storms. Three things we've got to change. We have to start with corruption. Just this last week, Louisiana was ranked as the most corrupt state in the country. This election signals an end to the tolerance for corruption. You know, LSU did a study that said the number one thing we can do to create more jobs is to attack corruption. It deters investment. It deters trust. I have a 31-point plan. It's pretty basic. Our legislators shouldn't lobby the state. They should disclose their income and on.
Secondly, we have to get rid of the new job taxes. In Louisiana, believe or not, we tax companies when they borrow money, buy new equipment, when pay their utility bills. It's crazy. Any time a company wants to create a new job, we tax them. Let's get rid of those taxes.
And the finally, third, we have to provide the skilled workers. We've got thousands of jobs we can't fill. You and I share a passion for public education. If we don't train our children, we don't train our people, we'll continue to lose thousands of good paying jobs. We will offer a day-one job guarantee that says our people are ready to work on the first day, or the state will retrain them for free. That's our responsibility as a state. We need to prepare our people for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
DOBBS: How much do you expect to meet in the way of resistance from the establishment that is, from corporations, big business, in Louisiana, the political orthodoxy that has held sway over that state for a very long time?
JINDAL: Well, one nice thing is, we won in the primary. That's never happened before in our history of open elections, open primary elections. We won against 11 opponents, won 60 out of 64 parishes. We have term limits for the first time ever in our legislature, could have well over half brand new faces. What that shows is the people are demanding change. People are tired of seeing their young children leave the state. Louisiana loses 30,000 of our people every year. The good news is, you're right. There's a lot of entrenched interest. Corruption didn't happen overnight. But the people are commanding change.
DOBBS: Governor-elect, it is great to see you. I wish you, and I'm sure, all of the people around the country, not just the folks in Louisiana, are pulling for your success.
JINDAL: Thank you, Lou.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Well, Congressman Jindal takes office on January 14th. At age 36, he's the nation's youngest governor. And I'm willing to bet he's going to get it done. We certainly hope so.
Next, we'll have your thoughts, and the results of our poll tonight. It's a whopper. Stay with us.
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