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Lou Dobbs Tonight
The Kennedy versus the Clintons; GOP Candidates Campaign in Florida
Aired January 28, 2008 - 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 it's the Kennedys versus the Clintons. The Kennedy dynasty, or at least most of it, endorsing Senator Barack Obama today in a stunning blow against the Clinton dynasty and Senator Clinton's campaign. We'll have all of that, the latest on the Republican presidential race, all the day's news and much more, straight ahead, here tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: news, debate, and opinion for Monday, January 28. Live from New York, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everybody. Senator Edward Kennedy today declared his outright support for Senator Barack Obama in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. Senator Kennedy's endorsement comes at a critical point in the Democratic race a week before Super Tuesday. It also marks the turning point in the relationship between most of the Kennedys and the Clintons.
In the Republican race, polls showing Senator John McCain and former Governor Mitt Romney in a statistical dead heat in Florida in the final hours of campaigning before that state's primary. We have extensive coverage tonight and we begin with Suzanne Malveaux with the Obama campaign in Washington. Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Lou, being in the room, it was electric. The energy was palpable. The event was chock-full of symbolism as well. Obama framed the race as the past versus the future, very much like the late President John F. Kennedy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I feel change in the air.
(APPLAUSE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): You cannot overstate the power of this picture. Whatever way Barack Obama's campaign goes, this will be a seminal moment.
KENNEDY: I'm proud to stand with him here today and offer my help, offer my voice, offer my voice, offer my energy, my commitment, to make Barack Obama the next president of the United States.
MALVEAUX: Known as the lion of the Senate, the keeper of the flame, Democratic icon Senator Ted Kennedy was fully on board.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Kennedy family, more than any other, has always stood for what's best about the Democratic Party, and what is best about America.
MALVEAUX: Kennedy's endorsement was part praise for Obama and part swipe at both Clintons following weeks of ugly politicking, which many blamed the former first couple for crossing the line.
KENNEDY: Let us reject the counsels of doubt and calculation.
MALVEAUX: I sat down with Obama to ask him what the endorsement meant to him.
OBAMA: I don't think this was an endorsement against anybody. I think that Senator Kennedy felt that I was tapping into a spirit in this country of thinking big, dreaming big, trying to bring the American people together, trying to get young people re-engaged in the process of remaking this country, and I think that that excited him. And I am extraordinarily humbled and thrilled to have his support.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And the hope is that Kennedy's endorsement will give Obama the kind of gravitas he needs with the Republican -- rather, the Democratic establishment. Kennedy also has a very strong relationship with the Latino community which Obama will lean on going into Super Tuesday. Lou?
DOBBS: Suzanne, Senator Obama may have been somewhat disingenuous when he said it wasn't an endorsement against anyone. Senator Kennedy made very little effort to -- to mitigate his critique of the Kennedys. What you -- wouldn't you agree with that?
MALVEAUX: I think when you hear Kennedy, there were -- it was thinly veiled swipe. You could tell that he was directly going after the Clintons on a number of points. He said that there's no question about Barack Obama's record on the Iraq war. That direct -- directly going to both Clintons who had questioned that the week before, saying there were certain statements where he was inconsistent. He also talked about Barack Obama rejecting this kind of trap of ugly politics. It was very clear that Senator Kennedy was directly talking about the Clintons and responding to them.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Suzanne Malveaux, from Washington. Thank you, Suzanne.
Senator Kennedy today also saying it's time, as he put it, for Barack Obama. Apparently that didn't mean giving Senator Obama more time to speak. In point of fact, the three Kennedys, Edward, Caroline, and Patrick, all spoke for almost twice as long as Senator Obama. That's a full 26 minutes and 2 seconds comparing with the senator's speech which lasted a relatively short 13 minutes, 58 seconds. Both Senator Kennedy's endorsement of Senator Obama comes amid rising discontent within the Democratic Party about the role of President Bill Clinton in his wife's campaign. Some Democrats say President Clinton's outbursts may be damaging Senator Clinton's campaign. Meanwhile the Clinton campaign itself downplaying Senator Kennedy's endorsement of Senator Obama. Jim Acosta has our report from Springfield, Massachusetts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(APPLAUSE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There were no Kennedys at Hillary Clinton's side in Massachusetts, only a shadow. At the very moment the state's iconic senator Ted Kennedy and former first daughter Caroline Kennedy were sharing the stage with Barack Obama, Clinton stood alone taking aim at Washington's other big event of the day.
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tonight will be the last time George Bush ever gives a State of the Union speech!
ACOSTA: Off stage, her campaign is working feverishly to stress that even though Clinton lost what may be described as the Kennedy primary, she's already picked up a couple of delegates, former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUN.: I respect Teddy's and my cousin Caroline's judgment about the issue, but I think that in my opinion that Hillary will make the best candidate and the most effective president.
ACOSTA: Democrats have privately grumbled for days that the Clinton's campaign pointed attacks against Obama before the South Carolina primary backfired, angering the party's leaders, Ted Kennedy foremost among them. Former President Clinton's remark that seemed to equate Obama's campaign with Jesse Jackson's candidacy generated the most heat.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Jesse Jackson won in South Carolina twice in '84 and '88 and he ran a good campaign and Senator Obama is running a good campaign here, not a good campaign everywhere.
ACOSTA: What's unclear now is how team Clinton may alter its tactics, instead of giving them hell, will they just give them more Hill and while they are at it maybe a little less Bill. The candidate rejects the notion she needs to turn down the temperature.
H. CLINTON: I've never been in a campaign that didn't get somewhat heated.
ACOSTA: But now she knows there will be no smooth sailing to the nomination, unlike that serene boat ride with the Kennedys so many years ago.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ACOSTA: And the Clinton campaign did note that it did pick up the endorsement of Florida Senator Bill Nelson, but in terms of impact, with party liberals he's no Ted Kennedy. Lou?
DOBBS: And there's no suggestion that president -- the former president will be backing off in his support for his wife's campaign for the presidency?
ACOSTA: That's right. He'll be back on the campaign trail campaigning for his wife tomorrow in New Jersey. All eyes will be on Bill Clinton. All ears will be on exactly what he has to say and whether he tones down the rhetoric.
DOBBS: OK. Well, if anyone tones down rhetoric in a presidential campaign, that could amount to a first I suppose. Thank you very much, Jim Acosta from Springfield, Massachusetts.
DOBBS: In the Republican battle for Florida, the fight between Senator McCain and former Governor Romney today turned nasty. Imagine that. The latest poll of polls shows the fight between McCain and Romney simply too close to call. The poll showing that Senator McCain has 29 percent support, compared with 29 percent for Romney, Giuliani in third place, just ahead of Mike Huckabee. Dana Bash now reports from Orlando on the final day of campaigning before the primary election.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dawn had barely broken as Mitt Romney used the dirtiest word in the Republican lexicon to describe John McCain, liberal.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you want that kind of a liberal Democratic course as president, then you can vote for him.
BASH: Two can play at that GOP game, and they did.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As the liberal governor of the state of Massachusetts, he raised taxes by $730 million.
BASH: Romney's closer is a two-fer -- hit McCain as a creature of the Washington he calls broken and highlight McCain legislation that's infuriated conservatives, immigration, campaign finance reform, climate change.
ROMNEY: Those three pieces of legislation, those aren't conservative. Those aren't Republican.
BASH: McCain was quick to point out that as Massachusetts governor, Romney embraced the same policy positions he now calls unacceptable.
MCCAIN: He's consistently taken both sides of any major issue. He has consistently flip-flopped on every issue. BASH: There with not by accident echoes of GOP attacks on Democrat John Kerry four years ago. Beyond all that, Romney and McCain are competing in Florida's crucial Republican primary as very different candidates, on very different, core GOP issues. Romney, on the economy, as the multimillionaire businessman who says he knows how to fix and it Senator McCain doesn't get it.
ROMNEY: And I frankly can't imagine how you can have a president of the United States who doesn't understand how the economy works.
BASH: McCain is playing the war hero. Digging away at Romney's lack of national security experience.
MCCAIN: And I didn't manage for profit, I led for patriotism.
BASH: Calling security the war, the transcendent issue.
MCCAIN: The point is that our nation's security is -- is our foremost obligation to our people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: And this debate is also raging on the airwaves through paid advertising. Mitt Romney has spent $30 million on TV ads here in Florida. That's about five times as much as John McCain. But, Lou, McCain is now on radio, paying for radio ads, really trying to go after Mitt Romney in a pointed way, trying to get at the issue that he thinks is his best asset. That of course is the economy, trying to make the case that he actually really hurt the economy in the state of Massachusetts -- Lou.
DOBBS: And in the state of Florida, illegal immigration, a very important issue with voters. How are the two candidates contrasting on that issue?
BASH: Well, you heard today that Romney used the -- one of the three pieces of legislation that he went after John McCain on, no surprise, is the piece of legislation that he pushed in the Senate. That supported a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. That is something that Mitt Romney knows has been a big sore spot for John McCain in every single Republican primary and caucus that he has been going through.
So, that's one of the things he has hit John McCain on. And as you can imagine, Senator McCain, Lou, has gotten very pointed questions at a lot of his events here in Florida from voters who are not happy about his position on immigration. Again, just like he got in New Hampshire, just like he got in South Carolina. That is continuing here in Florida.
DOBBS: Dana Bash, thank you, from Florida.
We'll have a lot more on politics here in this broadcast. Tonight's poll question, we'd like to know what you think. Will the Kennedy family's endorsement of Senator Obama have any impact on your choice for president? Yes, positive. Yes, negative. It will have no impact. Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll have the results upcoming.
Next, a deadly day for our troops in Iraq, but our soldiers are on the offensive and al Qaeda appears to be on the run. Michael Holmes in Iraq will have our special report -- Michael.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Lou, the success of the surge in Baghdad drove insurgents to northern Iraq, but troops say there will be no rest for them there. U.S. forces on the hunt. We went along with them. I'll have a full report coming right up. Lou?
DOBBS: Michael, thank you.
Also President Bush preparing to give his final State of the Union address tonight. President Bush is expected to say that our illegal immigration crisis can be solved, but on his terms.
And the biggest decline in new home sales since records began. We'll have a special report for you tonight in our report "War on the Middle-Class". We're coming right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Insurgents in Iraq have killed eight more of our troops. Five soldiers were killed in a bomb and gun attack in the northern city of Mosul. Three of our soldiers were killed in separate attacks. About 1,000 of our troops are now in Mosul; 7,000 Iraqi soldiers and police are with them. There's been a sharp increase in violence in Mosul and surrounding areas over recent weeks. Thirty-six of our troops have now been killed in Iraq this month; 3,940 of our troops have been killed since this war began; 29,005 of our troops wounded; 12,986 of them seriously.
American troops northwest of Baghdad tonight are on the offensive against al Qaeda. Those troops are stepping up their operations against the insurgents who fled Baghdad. Michael Holmes reports now from near Samarra on the hunt for insurgents, al Qaeda and their weapons caches.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): "Operation Fulton Two" (ph) is underway. Support choppers overhead spot a car hidden amid mounds of earth. It's a car bomb packed with homemade explosives, ready for its deadly task.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa.
HOLMES: It's destroyed where it sits. Incredibly, some of the explosives survive. Another detonation this time no chance anything will remain.
(SOUNDS)
CAPT. JONWAYNE LINDSAY, U.S. ARMY: These EBADs (ph) pose the biggest threat to our checkpoints, the concerned local citizens' checkpoints. I think we're saving their lives. I think we're securing the population even out here.
HOLMES: There's a sense of urgency to "Fulton Two" and other missions underway outside Baghdad; 30,000 of those surge troops are due to head home in the months ahead. The race is on to chase down as many al Qaeda and other insurgents as possible before that happens.
(on camera): It feels like we're in the middle of nowhere and it's taken us all night to get here. In fact, we're in a part of northern Iraq that U.S. troops have never been in before.
(voice-over): And more and more, even in these remote areas, locals are turning on insurgents giving Iraqi and American soldiers crucial information.
COL. SCOTT MCBRIDE, U.S. ARMY: And every single successful find that we've had in the last three weeks has been the result of an Iraqi man who has come forward and took us to a place on the ground. There is no substitute for that.
HOLMES: Over a vast area of barren terrain, the units spread out. Bulldozers look for buried weapons. None found here. But another car bomb in the making is being prepared for the final stage of the loading of explosives. It's parked next to a mud-brick house. The car is destroyed, the house vanishes. A third car is found, again in the final stages of preparation.
(SOUNDS)
HOLMES: And then word of a significant find.
CAPT. JIM HOUSTON, U.S. ARMY: We found video evidence of attacks against Americans planned future attacks against Americans. It's a lot of documented evidence that's going to have to get translated.
HOLMES: Officers say it's an insurgent command center, weapons, ammunition, bomb making materials and tapes showing the final statements of suicide bombers about to embark on their mission.
MAJ. GEN. MARK HERTLING, U.S. ARMY: Our mission is to pursue them, to continue to pursue them. Not allow them to get any kind of base. Not allow them to get entrenched in a community. And keep them on the run.
HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN, near Samarra, northern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: And Iraqi troops and police tonight are also on the offensive. The Iraqi government is sending reinforcements to the northern city of Mosul for what officials say will be a decisive struggle against the insurgents.
Coming up here next, we'll have a preview of tonight's State of the Union address, President Bush's final address.
And Senator Barack Obama tries to win over Latino voters pushing amnesty for illegal aliens.
And Senator John McCain, he's trying to explain his positions on border security and illegal immigration. We'll tell you how he's doing. Stay with us. We're coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Senator Barack Obama trying to win the support of Latino voters by supporting amnesty for illegal aliens. California is the prime target, of course, 370 Democratic delegates are at stake there. Right now Senator Hillary Clinton has a strong lead in California. But as Casey Wian reports, under Obama's strategy appears to include appealing to the large Hispanic vote by pandering to supporters of illegal immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(APPLAUSE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Ted Kennedy, co-author of the failed Senate bill to offer a road to amnesty for illegal aliens today endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president, and praised Obama for working toward the same goal.
KENNEDY: There is the tireless skill of a senator who was there in the early mornings to help us hammer out a needed compromise on immigration reform, who always saw a way to protect national security and the dignity of people who did not have a vote.
WIAN: Illegal aliens can't legally vote, but their presence could influence the pivotal Latino vote.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WIAN: Obama who supported Kennedy's bill also has endorsed drivers' licenses for illegal aliens.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Obama, yes or no?
OBAMA: Yes. Yes.
BLITZER: OK...
(CROSSTALK)
WIAN: It's one issue now separating Obama from his chief Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Clinton who has been criticized for changing her position on drivers' licenses for illegal aliens. Obama won the endorsement of the highest-ranking Latino in the U.S. Congress Sunday.
REP. XAVIER BECERRA (D), CALIFORNIA: I love someone of principle. I love someone who sticks to his guns. I love someone who says one thing one day and does it the next day. Barack Obama knows that on immigration we've got to fix this broken system whether it's at the border, at the workplace, and he's providing some common sense ideas.
He's also not trying to pander. He's also not trying to flip- flop and I very much appreciate that on this issue.
WIAN: Still almost California Latino leaders including the mayor of Los Angeles and the speaker of the California State Assembly support Clinton who has a 40-point lead over Barack Obama among likely Latino voters according to a field poll released last Tuesday.
PROF. HARRY PACHON, UNIV. OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Clinton has a high name identification in the Hispanic community. Clinton is not an unknown name. Obama is a relatively new name.
OBAMA: I think it's important for us to get my record known before the Latino community.
WIAN: Apparently by criticizing some who have been outspoken in their opposition to amnesty for illegal aliens.
OBAMA: We're not going to be able to solve the problem if we're just shouting about it, you know, like Lou Dobbs and folks on television.
WIAN: Obama says as president, he would make secure borders and sanctions on employers of illegal aliens a priority over amnesty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: By supporting drivers' licenses for illegal aliens, Obama risks alienating California voters who just five years ago ousted Governor Gray Davis who signed a bill that never became law to allow drivers' licenses for illegal aliens, Lou.
DOBBS: And I'm sure Senator Obama knows better, but I've done a lot more than shout about it. I've defined the problem I think rather straightforwardly. And if Senator Obama wants to pay some attention, here we go. We can't reform immigration law, Senator, unless we control immigration.
We can't control immigration, Senator, unless we control our borders and our ports. That's the way it is. And, Casey, the idea that Senator Clinton holds a 40-point lead, any thought about how strong, secure that lead is?
WIAN: Well, according to the supporters of Obama who we spoke to today, his support among Latinos is growing. That poll was done about a week and a half ago. Of course, that was before Obama's victory in South Carolina. So, I guess we're going to look to see polling numbers that come out in the next few days to see if he has cut into her massive lead, Lou.
DOBBS: Well, Villaraigosa and Nunez in Sacramento, powerful political names that are with the Latino population, they are standing steadily with Senator Clinton?
WIAN: Absolutely they are. They say that the Clintons, both Senator Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, have been friends of the Latino community. However, that may be defined. And the Latino community is a stronger presence now than it was when -- when Bill Clinton was president. And they're expecting that to carry over to help Hillary Clinton carry California for the Democrats.
DOBBS: And, of course, it is important to point out there is really no difference between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama when it comes to their support for amnesty legislation.
WIAN: Absolutely not.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Casey Wian -- Democrats with a choice.
In the Republican race, Senator John McCain is trying to end speculation that he is continuing to support open borders and amnesty for illegal aliens as sponsoring as he did with Senator Ted Kennedy the original legislation along with the help, of course, of the Bush White House. They tried and failed to push amnesty legislation through Congress last year and the year before.
The White House today blamed me as a matter of fact in part for the bill's defeat. Yesterday Senator McCain declared that the amnesty legislation that he helped write is now dead, and he said the next president should secure our borders first. But then at the same time, Senator McCain indicated that were he president, he would still sign amnesty legislation into law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Yeah, but we -- look the lesson is it isn't won. It isn't going to come. It isn't going to come. The lesson is they want the borders secured first. That's the lesson. I come from a border state. I know how to fix those borders with walls, with UAV's, with sensors, with cameras, with vehicle barriers. They want the borders secured first. And I will do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: You notice he said they want the borders secured. You wonder why Senator McCain wouldn't. Well, Senator McCain also said he would deport as many as two million criminal illegal aliens. The senator also said he would introduce biometric documents to ensure only people entitled to work in this country would be working here and staying here.
Time now nor some of your thoughts -- Sue in South Carolina said, "Dear Lou, please tell me which Clinton is running for president." Well I think it's pretty clear.
And Barbara in Florida, "After listening to Senators Obama and Clinton bickering, it sure helped me to make up my mind who I'll vote for. It sure won't be these people who are busy fighting among themselves and not dealing with the true issues facing this country. Next step is registering Independent." Now we're talking. And Scott in Michigan, "Dear Lou, I'm tired of Obama's crying. If he can't handle the Clintons, he won't handle the pressure of running our country."
And John in New York, "Lou, Bill Clinton made me a Republican. George Bush confused me. You made me an Independent." I'm glad to help.
We'll have more of your thoughts here later in the broadcast. Each of you whose e-mail is read here receives a copy of my new book "Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit".
Up next, rising concern in the Democratic Party about the role of President Clinton in his wife's presidential campaign.
Also, the housing and mortgage crisis is worsening. Our middle- class is on the brink.
And President Bush expected to push his amnesty and so-called free-trade agendas in tonight's State of the Union speech, his last State of the Union. Stay with us. We're coming right back. We'll have analysis and more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Our federal government today confirmed what middle-class homeowners have known for quite some time, the housing market is in a severe, steep, and painful decline. New home sales posting a record decline last year, while home prices experienced the sharpest drop in nearly four decades. And as Bill Tucker now reports, relief could be a long ways away.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Already weak new home sales plunged a chilling 26.5 percent last year. It was the biggest drop since the government started keeping track and the double-digit declines were nationwide. Sales in the west fell more than 32 percent. In the Midwest, sales dropped almost 28 percent; in the south, 26.5 percent. Only the northeast offered hope albeit weak with an increase of 1.5 percent. With sales plunging, prices fell. The median new home price dropped more than 10 percent from December of 2006, bad for homeowners, and potentially bad for the economy.
ROBERT SHILLER, YALE UNIVERSITY: What ultimately drives the economy is substantially psychology. You know, you could easily see people suddenly when they realize that this house is falling in value and they don't have any equity for a home equity loan, you could easily see people pulling back and not spending so much.
TUCKER: We have been living in a housing-driven economy; rising home prices, increased home equity. That is over for now. And a new reality is setting in.
Economists are forecasting that American homeowners will lose more than $2 trillion in home equity this year. ROBERT KUTTNER, AUTHOR, "THE SQUANDERING OF AMERICA": We're looking at a major anchor of the middle-class economy getting sandbagged, and that cuts into the ability of people to consume, to purchase, and that cuts into the incomes of lots of other people like home builders and carpenters and people who sell washing machines and home repairmen.
TUCKER: And the recovery may take a while. At current sales rates, it will take almost ten months to sell off all the new homes on the market.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: But even if the market turmoil and amid concerns over rising foreclosure rates, some are saying they see an opportunity. The National Association of Realtors for one has launched an ad campaign reminding would-be buyers that with low interest rates, lower prices now might be a good time to buy, Lou.
DOBBS: Well, the reality is we're still facing an immense crisis for 2 million homeowners facing foreclosure and at this point, the stimulus package is tied up and what the federal government has done to this point is a joke.
TUCKER: They've done nothing. In fact, what Bob Kuttner what needs to be done the government needs to get more active and involved. He's very disappointed with what they've don't so far in congress or what's been proposed they do.
DOBBS: And the senate democratic leadership who you would think given at least the history of their party might be of some concern to them. Senator Reid, the majority leader, saying give us a few weeks. We'll get around to it.
Bill Tucker, thank you very much.
The economic downturn is likely to be a major issue in this address tonight, the president's final state of the union address. President Bush is likely to say any delay in his proposed economic stimulus package would be disastrous for middle-class Americans.
Ed Henry has our report from the White House. Ed?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In his final state of the union, President Bush will urge democrats to move quickly, to complete action on a $150 billion plan to stimulate the economy and warn them the senate's decision to add tax rebates for senior citizens and unemployment compensation could blow the whole deal up.
JOSH BOLTEN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: If it could delay or derail the adoption of the good package, the president would be very concerned. Right now we're confident that's of the senate will under that it's important, when you've got a good bipartisan compromise on the table to move on it rapidly. HENRY: The president's chief of staff, Josh Bolten, also told CNN the White House is not distracted by the presidential campaign.
BOLTEN: A lot of us here in the White House including the president are political junkies, so it's kind of side entertainment but everybody's head, especially the president's, is in the game.
HENRY: Bolten noted the president will reveal plans to sign an executive order, directing federal agencies not to fund earmarks, lawmakers' pet projects dropped into the process at the last minute.
ED GILLESPIE, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: In the future, departments and agencies are to ignore any earmarks that were not specifically passed by the United States Congress or signed by the president.
HENRY: White House aides say the president is not nostalgic, but they suspect he and his wife will be emotional, because their intensely private daughters, Jenna and Barbara, decided to attend the speech for the first time.
ANITA MCBRIDE, CHIEF OF STAFF TO FIRST LADY: What Mrs. Bush conveyed to me that the girls talked to their dad and would like to be there for his final state of the union speech.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Now, we've gotten some excerpts of the speech and the president will address a couple of issues that are very important to voters in the election year.
First of all, on immigration, the president will say, "Illegal immigration is complicated but it can be resolved and it must be resolved in eight that upholds both our laws and our highest ideals."
Now on trade, the president will say, "We must trust American workers to compete with anyone in the world and empower them by opening up new markets overseas. Today, our economic growth increasingly depends on our ability to sell American goods, crops and services all around the world. These agreements will level the playing field." Now nothing really new there. We've heard the president say that before, but White House officials are saying up front that given the president's political situation it doesn't make a lot of sense to come up with any major policy initiatives since he's dealing with a democratic congress. Lou?
DOBBS: Well, I think what you also may be hearing if the president isn't going to announce any new initiatives is a national sigh of relief. This has not been an administration over the last several years that has been remarkable in its success ratio in new initiatives.
HENRY: Certainly even some of the initiatives the president passed in his first term, such as his education reform bill, is now struggling to be authorized. He's obviously has an uphill climb in his final year, Lou. DOBBS: Some of us do not lament the fact of course that those initiatives fell to the will of the people. Speaking of empowerment, it would be nice if the whole city that you're working in would decide to empower the majority and the middle-class of working men and women and their families. Perhaps that's something we can look forward to in the fall.
Thank you very much, Ed Henry, from the White House.
CNN tonight, of course, will have extensive coverage of the president's state of the union address, analysis from the best political team on television. Live coverage of the president's speech begins at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN. We hope you'll be with us.
And coming up next, dynasties clashing; much of the Kennedy dynasty turning its back on the Clinton dynasty, anticipating perhaps an Obama dynasty. We'll have that report.
And a giant spy satellite in the sky is falling, a satellite on a collision course with this planet. All of that and much more. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Well, ahead of the president's state of the union address tonight, it's time to check some of his past promises.
Back in 2002, the president branded Iraq, North Korea and Iran the axis of evil, as you'll recall. The nation still mired in the war in Iraq and facing rising tensions with Iran and not much done with North Korea.
The president also promising to defeat recession back in 2002. Well, I think it's fair to say he did that, or at least the economy did. But we appear to be on our way to another recession tonight.
And in 2005 the president promised to fix social security. We still wait, but we have to give him credit for at least bringing up the issue.
And there was so-called comprehensive immigration reform. As you might guess, I give him no credit at all for that issue. Our borders remain porous and amnesty agendas abound in not only Washington but in states -- a number of quarters in the country. But the American people push back twice against amnesty legislation.
Last year the president called for affordable, accessible health insurance. Health insurance premiums rising faster than inflation still. And the number of Americans with no health insurance continues to soar.
So, tonight, we begin again in the president's final state of the union address.
And joining me now, three of the best political analysts here in New York; democratic strategist, Hank Sheinkopf. Hank, thanks for being here. Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, "New York Daily News," Michael Goodwin. Michael, thank you. And in Washington, D.C., John Harris, editor in chief of Politico.com. Thank you for being here.
Michael, let me turn to you first. This state of union address, no new initiatives, Ed Henry reports from the White House, no surprise there.
MICHAEL GOODWIN, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Right. What's interesting there, Lou, your list of things that he promised in the past that didn't come and I remember a big one, too, our addiction for oil. We were going to get over our addiction to oil. You look at the mortgage crisis that we're having now, that happened on President Bush's watch. The no standards, the way that all the rules were broken. The immigration ...
DOBBS: When we talk about the failure to regulate and police these markets ...
GOODWIN: Right.
DOBBS: You have to go back to the -- starts with the my judgment, begins with the Carter administration and reaches right through and successfully worse terms through each of those administrations, democratic and republican.
GOODWIN: Right. And Senator Moynihan's great line about deviancy defined down, it just gets worse and worse each time until you have the sub-prime explosion and finally the earmarks.
DOBBS: I think we can paraphrase, dumbness defined down.
GOODWIN: But the earmarks he'll talk about tonight, it exploded on his watch. A lot of the problems had he been managing the government, I think we will see a different speech tonight.
DOBBS: This will obviously not be an aspirational speech, John, because the president has nothing new to offer, at least according to the White House aides in terms of new initiatives. Will it be a somber or even nostalgic or perhaps sad address?
JOHN HARRIS, POLITICO.COM: Well, the White House has been trying to make the point all weekend and, again, today that they're not going to wax nostalgic, that he is going to really try to come out within energetic, forward-looking message. The subtext, as he put it, a crawl line across the screen, not a lame duck. That's going to be the message that he's going to try to say.
I will say as long as the economy is not doing well and there will be a focus on the treasury secretary and as long as the war is going on and Bush's kept the commander in chief, he's going to be relevant until January 20th of 2009. There's not really any question about that. He's not necessarily relevant as far as the legislative agenda with Capitol Hill goes.
DOBBS: And he's absolutely, in my opinion at least, Hank, irrelevant on the campaign trail. The presidential candidates, both parties, none of them are affected by seemingly this president, save perhaps John McCain who supported the president on the surge strategy.
HANK SHEINKOPF, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: This is a man who was irrelevant, by and large. The relevancy as commander is true. He has nothing to say about domestic politics anymore. His endorsement would be death. He's had a failure that's reached the record of nadir in public opinion polling and he'll have to somehow get through the next year and that will be quite difficult, I think.
DOBBS: As we watch what is happening on the campaign trail with Clinton and Obama and John Edwards, for crying out loud, coming third in his home state, he can't even get traction here. What in the world is going on with this Democratic Party?
GOODWIN: Well, it's interesting, because when you look at Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, I mean their approval ratings and the congress as a whole are below Bush's. So, right now you've got a government sort of both ends of Washington not functioning at all. And so that is one reason why I think the presidential campaign has gotten so much attention. People want a big change in Washington in both parties.
DOBBS: You know what, I know that's -- there's some suggestion to that. But, John, let me ask you this -- is there -- is it perhaps a misreading? Perhaps the American people have had such a bellyful of these people, they don't want too much to change because they are afraid some of these two parties might take us in a direction that they are singularly unequipped to take us?
HARRIS: Well, you've got the conditions right now that are in some ways an echo of 1992, in some ways an echo of what we've seen in several states like Schwarzenegger in California, several years back, Ventura in Minnesota. What I'm talking about is a radicalized center, people really disgusted with the politics as usual in both parties.
DOBBS: Right.
HARRIS: That's why the prospect of Michael Bloomberg hanging out there with his thick wallet and with somebody that could plausibly sort of capture the pro vote from 16 years ago, that's going to be very intriguing to the watch.
DOBBS: Hank, you're nodding your head on that one.
SHEINKOPF: I happen to agree. I think people are disgusted. But the breakdown in the party has been going on for quite some time. The parties have little to offer. The disgust of politics has been going on for some time. It's not new Lou but the issue in this kind of setting is, is there a transcendent issue that is useful for the transcendent personality to change the system? That's where we're at.
DOBBS: When we come back, I'm going to ask you, Michael Goodwin, first and foremost, just how valuable was Senator Kennedy's endorsement of Senator Obama? We'll be right back with our panel. And we'll be taking up that issue. But, first, a reminder to vote in our poll. Will the Kennedy family's endorsement for Senator Obama have any impact on your choice for president? Yes, positive. Yes, negative. Yes, it will have no impact. Cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll be right back with our panel in just one moment. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: I'm back with Hank Sheinkopf, Michael Goodwin and John Harris.
Michael, let me turn to you. Senator Kennedy's well-staged, well-prepared, well-delivered endorsement of Barack Obama; helpful or hurtful?
GOODWIN: Yeah, I think of Ted Kennedy as the arthritic lion, out there roaring. I'm no fan of Ted Kennedy's. I don't think his politics are good for the country. I don't think he has a wide following. But the name itself is something that I think still resonates in a lot of parts of America and I think what it does, it gives Obama the certain sense of establishment backing.
DOBBS: Do you agree with that, John?
HARRIS: I do agree with that. Any endorsement, even somebody like Ted Kennedy, affects things only at the margins. But if this race remains this close, an impact at the margins could be decisive. I think it's a pretty big deal.
DOBBS: A big deal and one wonders why because when you look back historically, the public policy contributions fact of the Kennedy family are highly suspect.
SHEINKOPF: Well, look I mean a lot has been written about the Cuban missile crisis. I don't want to go into the whole, but let's be clear about it, this guy nearly blew us all up. One may say what one wants, but that's what effectively occurred, going back to the -- his father, the ambassador. I mean, I don't want to touch that is to fool with extraordinarily negative things in American history.
What does it bring? It tells people who are on the left that it's okay to vote for this guy. That's wonderful. I don't think it shifts any Hispanic votes. It give us gravitas, but it's a gang-up on Hillary, why? Well maybe they just don't want to see any dynastic ability because it didn't occur to him.
DOBBS: Is Bill Clinton suddenly a racist? Al Sharpton is saying he better shut up.
SHEINKOPF: It's ridiculous. It's one of the more ridiculous sing things said to date. He's doing what you're supposed to do, when you're in combat, and campaigns are some bat, you attack. That's the job.
DOBBS: Will Obama, will those supporting Obama, will the Al Sharptons and so forth, will they stifle and cower Bill Clinton? SHEINKOPF: I don't think so. I know Bill Clinton, I'm telling you something now, he's the smartest political operative there is and he may have overstepped the bounds but I think he'll use his political persona to make it this work a lot better.
GOODWIN: I don't think so at all. I think that Bill Clinton made it worse in South Carolina. She probably was going to lose in South Carolina. I think he turned a 12-point defeat into a 27-point defeat.
DOBBS: I think the polls showed that.
GOODWIN: I don't think he helped her at all. I think there are real questions if whether Bill Clinton can help her if he's that involved. Underneath this issue of whatever he says is the fact that we're talking about him. We're not talking about Hillary's positions on immigration. We're talking about whether Bill Clinton --
DOBBS: This is the reality, this is the reality. They're inseparable.
GOODWIN: But I think that hurts her.
DOBBS: Does it, John?
HARRIS: I do think that no presidential candidate and particularly Hillary Clinton wants to get in a position where you have a backward-looking candidacy, where it's defending the past and waging a historical argument and his presence makes it hard for her to be a future-oriented candidate and it does make it about Bill Clinton rather than the voters.
DOBBS: Let's talk about some of those voters, for example, in Florida. Giuliani appears to be running third right now. The polls by the way, we recall vividly, are quite wrong.
GOODWIN: Right.
DOBBS: Is this do or die? Here we go with that question again. I apologize for it. Is it do or die for Giuliani?
SHEINKOPF: Let's go back to Clinton for a second. What some people think about Clinton in Florida, when they think about the name Clinton, what they think is the best economy in 40 years, a nation recently at peace. Not so bad. That's what he's risking changing the people of opinion about. The more engaged he becomes a negative.
I'm going back to your question. Giuliani, I'm shocked that he got as far as he did, frankly, a candidacy that is exactly on the opposite side of every other republican.
GOODWIN: Well, it looks as though Giuliani is going to finish third. There are already reports about when he would drop out, will it be Wednesday or would it be Thursday. I think the problem for Giuliani is if he stays in, he hurts McCain. And McCain is his buddy. McCain is the one he's closest to and agrees with the most. So the longer he stays in, if he's in an impossible situation, the more he hurts a person he'd like to support.
DOBBS: The idea that McCain is now a darling of the conservative party, John Harris, could that hold up?
HARRIS: He's not. I mean, it's a classic second marriage. You know, he's maybe the best -- probably the ...
DOBBS: I can't wait to see how you get out of this one. Are you through, John?
HARRIS: It's ...
DOBBS: Or would you like to carry that metaphor further?
HARRIS: It's not well. I think that's why there's still a big question mark about this campaign. A lot of the conservatives, maybe the conservative establishment, Washington has come to terms with McCain, a lot of conservative voters I believe have not. He's got to show that he can win in republican-only states not just with independents. And he has not yet established that clearly.
DOBBS: We're going to see what's going to be established. John Harris, we thank you. Politico.com, Michael Goodwin, the "New York Daily News." And the democratic strategist, Hank Sheinkopf, defending the Clintons.
SHEINKOPF: Hey, somebody has to do it.
DOBBS: By the way, it's interesting the lack of defense or surrogates that have done that. It's really an interesting turn right now. Thank you very much.
Coming up at the top of the hour, the Election Center with Wolf Blitzer. Wolf joins us now to tell us what's going to happen with the state of the union. Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Lou.
We're not only standing by to set the stage for the president's state of the union address, we're also going to have full coverage of the all the dramatic developments today on the campaign trail, including Senator Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama. We'll check out what the presidential candidates are saying about the state of the union as well.
And we'll tell you what to listen for, what to watch for in the president's speech. A lot more, coming up in a special, from the CNN Election Center, Lou, that's coming up in a few moments at the top of the hour.
DOBBS: Terrific, Wolf. Thank you very much.
And up next here, one of our satellites on a collision course with earth. We'll be talking all about it and when the unthinkable is likely to occur. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: There are new concerns tonight about a large U.S. spy satellite that has lost power in space. That satellite is expected to fall to earth within the next six weeks, sometime within that period, and that satellite may contain hazardous materials. Louise Schiavone has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A rogue U.S. spy satellite that has malfunctioned from virtually the moment it slipped into orbit about a year ago is hurtling back toward earth. Advice from all the experts? Don't panic, and, yet ...
KEITH COWING, NASA WATCH.ORG: Normally when you bring a satellite like this back, you sort of steer it and have it come down where you want it to, in the middle of the pacific. But in this case, it's doing its own thing and doing what it wants to. That's a bit of an issue.
SCHIAVONE: It's enough of an issue for the National Security Council to issue this statement, "Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation. Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite might cause." The satellite in question is top secret, but experts believe it's about the size of a small school bus, weighing about three or four tons. While re-entry involves extensive destruction --
COWING: It will be coming in 25 times the speed of sound. The temperatures are immense. And metals will melt, tanks will burst. Parts will be scattered.
SCHIAVONE: There remain concerns that traces of the fuel tank and its toxic fuel could hit the ground and that top secret aspects of the satellite could land in the wrong place.
JOHN PIKE, GLOBAL SECURITY WATCH: There is a reason that they always drop these things in the Pacific Ocean. It's to keep it out of the hands of the Chinese and the Russians. This is not the sort of thing that you want winding up in Moscow or Beijing.
SCHIAVONE: A possible strategy for dealing with a crisis of this type was once envisioned by the Yahoo Internet site and lives on in You Tube.
Spy satellite in question is expected to land in about a month.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHIAVONE: Lou, experts say with three quarters of the earth covered in water, there's a one in four chance the satellite's remnants will hit land and only a one percent chance it will hit a populated area. Lou?
DOBBS: Well, I like the odds. I just don't like it when the odds are defeated. Thank you very much, Louise Schiavone.
The results now of our poll: 53 percent of you said the Kennedy family's endorsement of Senator Obama will have no impact on your choice for president; 19 percent said it will have a positive impact; 28 percent said it will have a negative impact.
And time now for some of your thoughts. Ana in Louisiana said -- "Dear Lou, with my upcoming rebate, I'm going to do my part to stimulate the economy. I'm purchasing two of your books, one for me and the other to send to President Bush as a thank you."
And Bob in Tennessee: "Groundhog Day and the State of the Union address. One involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, while the other involves a groundhog."
And Gary in Arkansas -- "Hey, Lou, I just read a copy of the Bush State of the Union address, the shortest in history: "We are screwed."
Anne in Indiana -- "So the news media thinks that Obama's endorsement by Ted Kennedy, the proponent of amnesty, is a positive thing? And an endorsement from Caroline Kennedy, part of the cultural elite, is also a positive thing. I'd sooner have a lobotomy than follow the advice of those two."
And Debbie in Connecticut -- "A change in Washington? A Kennedy endorsement doesn't sound like much of a change to me. Same old, same old: 2; change: 0."
Tom in North Carolina -- "In the current list of candidates, I can't even come up with a least harmful choice, much less one I would like to vote for."
And Alan in Kentucky -- "Lou, I've been listening to you religiously for about two years now, and I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of our government's ways. So today, I am registering as an independent. Thanks for helping me to see the light."
Thank you.
We love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts at loudobbs.com. Each of you whose email is read here receives a copy of my new book: "Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit."
Thank you for being with us tonight, and join us here tomorrow. For all of us, thank you for watching. Good night from New York. "THE ELECTION CENTER" with Wolf Blitzer begins right now -- Wolf.
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