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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Nuclear Defiance; Brink of Bankruptcy; Battle over Gay Marriage; Fighting Widespread Corruption
Aired May 27, 2009 - 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: Good evening, everybody.
The United States said North Korea will face consequences for its nuclear defiance and military threats after North Korea threatened to attack U.S. and South Korean warships.
Also tonight Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor faces charges she's a racist. The White House says her critics should be quote "exceedingly careful". We'll have more in our "Face-Off" debate tonight.
And General Motors is on the verge of bankruptcy -- General Motors planning to transfer production and American jobs overseas so it can ship jobs and cars back into this country with the help of billions of dollars in your taxpayer money.
And Vice President Biden has a teleprompter problem, then makes a joke at the president's expense. We'll tell you all about it.
We begin tonight with the escalating military and diplomatic crisis over North Korea. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today declared North Korea will face consequences for what she called its provocative and belligerent threats. Her comments come hours after North Korea in effect declared war saying it's no longer bound by the Armistice Agreement (ph) that ended the Korean War back in 1953. North Korea this week as also conducted a nuclear weapons test and carried out a series of missile tests, in fact three -- Dan Lothian has our report from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Obama administration is so concerned about North Korea's missile launches and nuclear tests that senior administration officials are holding regular meetings on the crisis. That's behind the scenes. Publicly, the White House says it's not frustrated by the saber rattling but by the broken promises.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The North Koreans don't seem to want to live up to the obligations that they've previously made to the international community.
LOTHIAN: North Korea is also threatening military action against U.S. and South Korean warships. White House officials are pleased that the global community, including China has been so vocal in its condemnation of the North Koreans. There's also mounting pressure for the Security Council to turn up the heat on the North from tightening sanctions to cutting off financing for its nuclear program.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: There are consequences to such actions. In the United Nations as we speak discussions are going on to add to the consequences that North Korea will face.
LOTHIAN: Experts warn that this problem requires a global solution, unwise for the U.S. to tackle alone.
NICHOLAS SZECHENYI, CTR. FOR STRAT. & INTL. STUDIES: It's not only the United States that's affected by this issue. It's all of the other countries in the region and the world because if this continues, North Korea could easily support terrorists and rogue states around the world and that's to no one's benefit.
LOTHIAN: It's unclear what North Korea is really trying to do or what they'll do next.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is there a sense that North Korea will back down before this escalates any further?
GIBBS: Well you know I think we are again, strongly hopeful that they'll understand that this is not doing them any good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Lou, I tried to get a sense of what the next move might be by the U.S. I asked Robert Gibbs if anything much tougher like military action is on the table. He said if that's being talked about it's not something he was going to discuss. Lou.
DOBBS: And you recall Dan the last time North Korea fired a missile and was warned by the president, the Obama administration that they would, quote, unquote, "be consequences that it would be provocative". The administration and (INAUDIBLE) Defense Secretary Robert Gates said they would do nothing about it and indeed that turned out to be exactly the case. Any reason to think this time is any different?
LOTHIAN: Well, you know that's a very good question. Right now the administration is simply talking about diplomacy and continued to sort of issue these words and some are saying perhaps there needs to be something a bit stronger than that because as you point out, I mean North Korea doesn't appear to be intimidated by any of the language coming from the U.S. or from any of the other allies as well, so it will be interesting to see what -- what comes out of this talk.
DOBBS: Dan, thank you very much -- Dan Lothian from the White House.
The Obama administration tonight appears unwilling, perhaps unable to say what those consequences might be for North Korea. This is not the first time the administration has tried and failed to hold North Korea to account. After that North Korean test of intercontinental ballistic missile last month the president said, quote, "violations must be punished, words must mean something". Kitty Pilgrim has our report. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After North Korea's series of hostile acts the State Department spokesman was pressed for more details on what the consequences might be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just not going to respond to every statement coming out of Pyongyang.
PILGRIM: What about North Korea threatening a military strike against South Korea saying it will no longer honor the 1953 truce that ended the Korean War.
IAN KELLY, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: As we said many times from this podium, we call on North Korea to refrain from these kinds of provocative statements.
PILGRIM: Many speculate recent belligerent actions, missile tests and nuclear tests are being done to bolster the increasingly fragile Kim Jong Il's (ph) standing with his own military. But around diplomatic meetings in New York and Washington threatens North Korea with little more than further isolation and no sterner consequences as far as we know from public statements.
The United States is bound to protect allies, Japan and South Korea, if attacked. Twenty-eight thousand U.S. troops are still stationed in South Korea and would be drawn into any conflict. Paul Chamberlin (ph) was a military attache (ph) to South Korea in the 1980s and author of the book "Korea 2010". He says there is a risk of regional conflict.
PAUL CHAMBERLIN, AUTHOR, "KOREA 2010": Oh I think it's increasingly dangerous. We ought to be mindful that most wars begin as the result of a miscalculation or by accident during periods of high tension.
PILGRIM: North Korea threatened it would no longer recognize the North-South Armistice (ph) that was signed to end the Korean War and divide the Peninsula.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: The Obama administration dismissed North Korea's threat to no longer honor the 1953 Armistice (ph) that divided the Korean Peninsula. They said this time -- this is the fifth time in 15 years they've sought to nullify the Armistice (ph) governing the Korean war. Lou.
DOBBS: Well seeking to nullify it and withdrawing from it sound like different things. In fact is this different?
PILGRIM: No, I mean I think that the language is that they don't respect it and they are not honoring it. I think that's the exact language. DOBBS: All right, Kitty, thank you very much -- Kitty Pilgrim.
As Kitty just reported, the United States still has almost 30,000 of our troops in South Korea, more than half a century since the end of the Korean War. The biggest contingent comes from the U.S. Army, about 17,000 Army troops. Those troops include armored, artillery (ph) aviation and air defense brigades. The U.S. Air Force has another 8,000 of our troops there with 40 F-16 fighter aircraft, 24 A- 10 attack aircraft.
There are also small contingents of U.S., Navy and Marine Corps. Two more of our troops have been killed in Iraq, one in Baghdad, the other near the city of Falluja; 20 of our troops have been killed so far in Iraq this month; 4,304 of our troops have been killed since this war began; 31,312 of our troops wounded; 13,784 of them seriously.
In Pakistan today suicide bombers killed at least 24 people in that country's second largest city, Lahore. About 250 people were wounded in the attacks -- the target of the attack, a police building and nearby intelligence headquarters. The blast leveled an area the size of a city block and the attack comes as the Pakistani military continues its offensive against the Taliban -- radical Islamic terrorists in northwest Pakistan.
Attacks once considered unthinkable, in this country at least, is now being considered by Washington. And supporters of same-sex marriage are planning a new effort to overturn California's voter approved ban on gay marriage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: We have more good news to report on the economy. A new survey from the National Association for Business Economics says the recession will end this year and more good news. Home sales rose almost three percent last month -- the reason for the increase -- lower house prices and historically low mortgage interest rates.
The news not as good for General Motors which appears to be on the verge of bankruptcy -- taxpayers have already invested billions of dollars to shore up the automaker and more billions will be needed to keep the company going, but rather than help Americans keep their jobs, much of that money will be used to create jobs at GM plants overseas and the cars made there will be imported here. Bill Tucker has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): GM appears ready to take the money and then run away with the jobs. The company is standing by its strategy of increasing cars built in foreign plants by foreign labor and then sold in the U.S. from its current level of 15 percent to 23 percent. Perhaps such a strategy by a multi national corporation would not be as confounding if it were not for the fact that the biggest shareholder in the new GM will be U.S. taxpayers. It's a role the White House fully recognizes. GIBBS: I would say that we have a major role to play, and I think we are playing it in a way that is preserving and protecting as many jobs as possible.
TUCKER: But advocates of a strong industrial policy to create jobs for Americans say the government is missing the point.
ALAN TONELSON, U.S. BUSINESS & INDUSTRY COUNCIL: Boosting production of vehicles in this country generates U.S. growth and improves U.S. living standards. Off-shoring vehicle production boosts foreign growth rates and lifts foreign living standards at the expense of our work force back home and our domestic economy.
TUCKER: The United Auto Workers union clearly understands what's at stake. In a letter to the membership the union says it's talking with GM about building a small car facility here like those overseas using an idle plant in the U.S. but the government and GM appears clearly focused on a quick return to profitability. But that doesn't have to be at the expense of domestic jobs, says consultant and author of the book "Why GM Matters". There is an alternative, he says, the White House could say...
WILLIAM HOLSTEIN, AUTHOR, "WHY GM MATTERS": For five years we're going to be silent partners and we're going to work with General Motors to maintain all of the facilities they have here and give them tax incentives and other R&D credits through the Department of Energy and all these different channels we're going to open up and it is our objective as a government to maximize the number of jobs in this market.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: But instead of pursuing that alternative, the government is saying that it wants to return the company to profitability as quickly as possible, regardless of the cost here at home. Part of the problem, Lou, is that the analysts say that we've never done this before and gotten involved in the business of business. And this time we wandered into it and the government doesn't seem to have a clear idea...
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: Who is the "we" here?
TUCKER: The goal.
DOBBS: The U.S. government.
TUCKER: We the U.S. government.
DOBBS: Yes.
TUCKER: The people. It's supposed to be the government of the people.
DOBBS: Yes. I recall that vividly. One wonders what the auto task force has to do with we the people. Thank you very much. Appreciate it -- Bill Tucker.
Well we'd like to know what you think about all of this. Our poll question tonight is do you think taxpayer money should be spent to create jobs for foreign workers while American workers are sent to collect unemployment checks? Yes or no? Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll have the results here later.
A new tax now being considered by the Obama administration, a national sales tax -- other countries call it a value-added tax or VAT or V-A-T. And other than Ezekiel Emanuel (ph), White House chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel's brother is the one pushing the idea. Ezekiel Emanuel (ph) was also hired by Budget Director Peter Orszag's (ph) advisor suggesting a 10 percent sales tax on just everything.
Now lawmakers are -- some of them at least embracing the idea with great enthusiasm. Imagine that -- someone in Washington embracing the idea of higher taxes. In fact the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee , Senator Kent Conrad (ph), says a national sales tax should be considered.
Political fallout in California tonight after the Supreme Court there ruled to uphold the state's ban on gay marriage. Supporters of same-sex marriage say their fight is far from over. And tonight two prominent attorneys are challenging Proposition 8 in federal court. Bill Schneider has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): In the Supreme Court case that decided the 2000 presidential election, Ted Olson represented George W. Bush and David Boies (ph) represented Al Gore. Today the two attorneys joined forces to challenge Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that bans same-sex marriages. It was just upheld by the State Supreme Court, so Olson and Boies (ph) are taking it to federal court.
THEODORE OLSON, FORMER U.S. SOLICITOR GENERAL: There are going to be many people in this country that think this is not the time to go to federal court or you're not going to be successful in federal court.
DAVID BOIES, FORMER COUNSEL TO AL GORE: When you have people being denied constitutional rights today, I think it is impossible as a lawyer and as an American to say to them, no, you have to wait.
SCHNEIDER: But the federal courts are filled with judges appointed by Republican presidents. Supporters of same-sex marriage are already raising money and gathering signatures to put another proposition on the California ballot to repeal Proposition 8, which passed by a narrow majority last year. Supporters of same-sex marriage believe they've got the momentum.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's already been an enormous amount of buyer's remorse among Californians.
SCHNEIDER: A carefully targeted ballot box strategy could prepare the way for court victories.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Civil rights, social, economic advances, protections for women, protections for racial, minority, religious protections and now protections for the LGBT (ph) community move forward you know with court cases and with activism and with work in legislatures, and these things, you know, happen together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: There is an old adage that says, quote, "The Supreme Court follows the elections returns." Well that's why supporters of same-sex marriage believe if they can get a few key election victories around the country it could turn the courts around, Lou.
DOBBS: And the courts, of course, not the issue right now -- the courts deferring to the will of the people, the Supreme Court of California ruling six to one to uphold that ban and only four states now recognizing same-sex marriage. It's a tough battle ahead, is it not?
SCHNEIDER: It certainly is. They haven't done particularly well at the ballot box but they think things are changing. In 2000, Californians voted on a similar proposition that banned same-sex marriage and it passed by about 64 percent I believe. This time it passed 52, so they believe momentum is on their side.
DOBBS: And the latest survey, the Gallup poll that I've seen shows about 56 percent of Americans opposing same-sex marriage, right?
SCHNEIDER: We showed 54 percent, but it's generally in the 50's.
DOBBS: Right.
SCHNEIDER: One poll by "The Washington Post" did show...
DOBBS: You don't...
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: You don't want to use that Gallup poll, do you?
SCHNEIDER: Well there are all kinds of polls, but they all show...
(CROSSTALK)
SCHNEIDER: ... a trend in favor of same-sex marriage.
DOBBS: I'm ecumenical on these things, Bill.
SCHNEIDER: OK.
DOBBS: Not so corporate as others might insist. We still got an answer -- one question I've been trying to figure out, which I'll save for another time, perhaps in the second half of this broadcast on why there's so much concern about the impact on heterosexual marriage in this country. We'll have that later -- here later -- Bill Schneider, thank you so much.
SCHNEIDER: OK.
DOBBS: Will applying the law or making law, making policy the controversy over the president's nominee to the Supreme Court the topic of our "Face-Off" debate tonight and just weeks after 50 prisoners in Mexican cells were broken out a new corruption scandal is unfolding.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: More than two dozen mayors of Mexican cities and Mexican public officials have been arrested. Those officials are accused of protecting one of Mexico's biggest drug cartels. This is the latest example of corruption in Mexico -- corruption financed by the drug cartels. It was just two weeks ago that prison guards apparently took part in a breakout of more than 50 inmates -- 20 people with machine- guns also assisted. Casey Wian reports now on Mexico's culture of corruption.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mexican federal police arrested 10 mayors and 17 other public officials this week on suspicion of cooperating with the rapidly growing La Familia (ph) drug cartel based in President Felipe Calderon's home state Michoacan (ph). Eleven other alleged cartel members were detained, including a former police officer, now allegedly a Familia (ph) leader in the state of Mexico. He's accused of directing executions, kidnapping and drug trafficking.
LUIS CARDENAS PALOMINO, MEXICAN FEDERAL POLICE (through translator): Javier Artise (ph), alias El Arkey (ph) is the chief of operations for the family in at least five municipalities of the state of Mexico. He is in control of that drug trafficking for all of that area.
WIAN: Federal police seized dozens of weapons, cash and law enforcement identification. They also freed two kidnapping victims. One described watching another captive beaten to death.
"JAVIER", KIDNAPPING VICTIM (through translator): They were beating us until we would agree to work for them and the man said he already had a job, so they kept beating. He didn't stand for much. Later when we saw him, because we were all close to each other, they said to us look how he didn't last. That's what is going to happen to you if you don't cooperate.
WIAN: Cooperation with drug cartels continues to plague Mexican government. In a dramatic jail break caught on videotape prison officials in Zacatecas (ph) allegedly helped 53 inmates escape. Some were drug cartel members. Since Mexican President Calderon launched his war on cartels two and a half years ago more than 10,000 people have been killed.
Calderon joined Mexican celebrities and Australian actor Hugh Jackman Monday in a campaign to revive tourism, which has been devastated by the recent swine flu outbreak and fears of drug cartel violence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: The increased cross-border nature of that violence is becoming even clearer. The Justice Department says Mexican cartels now operate in at least 195 U.S. cities and Tuesday an American brother and sister were arrested in Tijuana on suspicion of kidnapping a Mexican man as part of an operation linked to a drug cartel. Lou.
DOBBS: What a mess and the State Department warning on Americans traveling to Mexico remains in effect, does it not?
WIAN: It absolutely does remain in effect, Lou. And the State Department of course is funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to the government of Mexico to try -- and one of the reasons for that money is to try to help clean up this corruption. Apparently this is an effort that's ongoing and it's got a long way to go.
DOBBS: So perhaps some of the money that we are sending to Mexico's government is being spent by Mexico's government to convince Americans to ignore our State Department warning not to travel to Mexico. Is that a correct construction?
WIAN: I'm not going to make that direct link, but you can certainly make that case, Lou.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Casey -- Casey Wian reporting.
Well some other stories we're following here tonight -- disturbing new video has just been released of a vicious beating in a Georgia high school. What you see here is a 15-year-old student charged for what he is doing, committing two felonies -- beating -- beating a fellow student. It took place, by the way, not recently, in December of 2008.
The victim of this horrific beating was afraid to come forward. Neither his parents nor school officials knew about the incident until the video was discovered online this week. His younger sister did know about this beating, but would not speak up out of fear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SISTER OF VICTIM: Because, you know, nowadays, if you don't -- if you say something, you know, you get beat up more, like if you snitch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: The family says the school has been, quote, "supportive" but the boy's mother says she wants to send both of her children back to her native Philippines to private school. There is no word on whether lawsuits will be following.
Off Key West, Florida, the U.S. Naval Ship "Vandenberg" intentionally sunk this morning. At more than 500 feet, weighing more than 17,000 tons, the "Vandenberg" was sunk in less than two minutes. The former World War II transport ship is now the -- part of the world's largest artificial reef.
And scientists have also discovered a major coral reef off the coast of Ireland, the Western coast. The reef covers more than 77 square miles. One scientist said it is the most spectacular cold water reef that he's ever seen.
Our housing crisis is destroying for many the American dream. One home owner will tell us his troubling story. And our "Face-Off" debate tonight, is President Obama putting group and identity politics ahead of judicial expertise? The fight over Supreme Court nomination is under way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If confirmed she will be the country's first Hispanic judge. In fact, her first order of business deporting Lou Dobbs. That's what she said...
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Here again Mr. Independent, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Republican lawmakers today planning to deal with the Sotomayor nomination, plotting strategy. Conservative critics of the judge citing her as a judicial activist, but Senate Republicans are faced with the reality of numbers. It's not likely they can muster the votes in the Senate to block her nomination if they so desired. Dana Bash has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind these doors the formal opposition has begun. Some one dozen Republican Senate lawyers are now combing through Sonya Sotomayor's dense legal record, starting with 3,625 published opinions from her 17 years as a federal judge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are some troubling things that are going to have to be inquired into for us to do our job.
BASH: Still the lead Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee does not think they'll try to block her nomination.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't sense a filibuster in the works.
BASH: That's not stopping conservative activists from trying to stir up public opinion against Sotomayor, releasing this new Web video with her instantly familiar quote about making policy from the bench.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is she saying?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Court of appeals is where policy is made and I know -- and I know this is on tape and I should never say that...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Equal justice under law or under attack? America deserves better.
BASH: One prominent conservative moved beyond attacking Sotomayor as a judicial activist and flat out called her a racist. Newt Gingrich said on Twitter: "White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latino woman racist should also withdraw." That's a reference to Sotomayor's now widely distributed 2002 Berkeley La Raza law review article, suggesting her Latina roots impact her judicial decisions.
"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
No senators and few other conservative activists have gone as far as Gingrich. But many are trying to make the same point more subtly.
GARY MARX, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JUDICIAL CONFIRMATION NETWORK: What I see from her comments about a female nominee and a woman of Hispanic dissent being better positioned to make statements and considerations on cases, is concerning. It's outside of qualifications that anyone controls.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now, despite that line of attack, you talk to some Republicans here in the Senate, and they say they are a little bit concerned about the visuals for Sotomayor's upcoming hearings.
One Republican aide I talked to who is involved in these confirmation battles, he said that Republicans are cognizant that they'll have "seven white quits on the GOP side questioning a Latina judge."
But, Lou, they are also very careful to say -- every Senate Republican has spoke out today that they are intended to do their due diligence in terms of her record and in questioning at these hearings just like they would whomever the nominee would be for the Supreme Court.
DOBBS: It sounds like a pass. Is it a pass?
BASH: Here's what they're saying inside the Republican ranks on the Senate -- in the Senate side.
DOBBS: All right.
BASH: They're saying that they're waiting, they're holding their powder, they're doing their work. They are going to look at her published records, they are going to look at her unpublished records before they come out swinging. They're taking a breath right now.
They insist it doesn't mean they will roll over. But I can tell you, and you saw from the video that came out today from some conservative activists, they are pushing senators hard not to roll over. They have time to see what transpires with regard to the way they approach this, particularly in these hearings.
DOBBS: Dana thanks a lot. Dana Bash from Capitol Hill.
The controversy over Judge Sotomayor's nomination is the subject of our face-off debate tonight. Joining me now Brent Wilkes. He's national direct of LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens. Brent, good to have you with us. Wilkes says the court should reflect the diverse population and he supports her nomination.
And Raquel Rodriguez, she was general counsel to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. She is now a partner at McDermott, Will, and Emery. Good to have you with us, Raquel.
She is also concerned about the role of identity politics here. She is opposed to the judge's nomination at this point in the process. Good to have you with us.
Thank you both for being here.
Let's start, if I may, with Judge Sotomayor's nomination, a historic one. You say you're concerned, Raquel, by the group of identity politics at play here. How so?
RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ, PARTNER, MCDERMOTT, WILL, AND EMERY: Hi, Lou. Good evening. And I want to stress that my comments are my own here tonight, and I'm not representing my former employer or my current employer.
DOBBS: You and I have something in common.
RODRIGUEZ: OK. Just want to be clear about that.
Lou, my concern is that we have got a big question mark about judicial philosophy. And that is why I'm withholding my support for Judge Sotomayor's nomination at this time.
I'm -- as a Hispanic and as a woman, I think I share the pride that many Hispanics across America have that there is a Hispanic nominee.
But, first and foremost, as someone who has been involved in the appointment process of hundreds of judge, I'm very cognizant that that is neither the beginning nor end of the inquiry.
The real question, especially for our Supreme Court, which is the last word on the law, is what is the judicial philosophy that she's going to bring to the table? Is it going to be an empathetic one like President Obama had signaled that he wanted, or is it going to be one where -- of judicial restraint? DOBBS: Let me turn, Brent, to you. You have said that you think the court should reflect the diverse population of this country. Do you believe it's more important for Hispanics to have a good justice on the Supreme Court, or is it more important for there to be Hispanic justice on the court?
BRENT WILKES, NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LULAC: No. It's absolutely more important, Lou, to have a good justice on the Supreme Court, be it of any race or ethnicity or sex.
But, you know, it's also important to have diversity throughout our government. People from diverse backgrounds enrich the understanding that people bring to the table, and it's no different with the Supreme Court.
We think that Sonia Sotomayor is an outstanding jurist. She has an extensive background. In fact, she is one of the most qualified candidates ever to come before the court as a nominee.
And on top that, she is going to bring a unique set of experiences that have never been on the court, as well. That's an added bonus in our mind, not the beginning of the discussion.
DOBBS: Raquel, is there a sense on your part that there should be a sort of a distributive aspect to the court, that is, that there should be half women, half men, that there should be some sort of pro rata by percentage of minority groups in this country represented on the Supreme Court?
RODRIGUEZ: No, I don't think you can do it. I do believe in diversity. And I think, again, we don't disagree on that. I have always supported diversity in the profession and in the judiciary. I think it's important.
I don't think you can subdivide the court like you would do redistricting of legislature or a Congress to represent groups of people.
And I think that it's one aspect of her background that she brings to the nomination, and I think, for many reasons, it's a valuable one. But it should not be the basis on which her confirmation is either affirmed or denied.
And based on past comments that she's made in the symposium that was -- speech that was published, I think that the Senate needs to exam whether or not there is going to be any possibility of judicial interpretation through any kind of ethnic or gender-based lens. That's --
DOBBS: Does your early hesitancy here on her nomination, if you can be as candid as possible, originate because of a difference in your ideologies? You're obviously working for a Republican governor. She is obviously a liberal or left wing, whatever you want to describe her as. Is that the source of your caution?
RODRIGUEZ: I don't know that she is liberal or left wing. My focus is not political philosophy. It's judicial philosophy, which is the appropriate inquiry that the Senate needs to make.
DOBBS: Sure.
RODRIGUEZ: Is this going to be a judge who is going to expand rights into the constitution that are not there? Is this a judge who is going to be results-oriented as opposed to one who is going to interpret the statutes?
So it's a judicial philosophy, not anything that I've prejudged, whether she's got a political leaning one way or the other. I don't know her politics.
DOBBS: Wilkes, you have said, quote, and if we may share this with our viewers and put it on the screen -- "If they, Republicans, just out of sheer ill-will, try to block the nomination, that's going to have a big backlash in the Hispanic population. And we won't have to do anything but sit back and watch them destroy themselves, because it's really going to be that bad."
I recall back in 2001 the nomination Miguel Lastrada, and a Brent Wilkes and an organization by LULAC supporting his nomination, but not with such, let's say, fire and such a roar of timber in the voice of the organization.
WILKES: Well, Lou, the stakes are much higher. This is a Supreme Court pick. Miguel Lastrada was up for circuit court. There have been Latinos in the circuit court, of course, including Sotomayor, of course. And so this is what a lot of Latinos have been waiting for for a long time.
And my statement, if you read it carefully, it's if Republicans oppose her just out of sheer ill-will without looking at her record.
I think if they look at her record -- this is a woman with extensive experience, 17 years of experience, 3,000 decisions. She's been part of -- she's written 380 decisions herself.
And it shows a very moderate record. Not really liberal or not really conservative. It shows judicial restraint. It shows that she's an outstanding, brilliant jurist,
And they don't have anything to hang their hat on, Lou. If they oppose her out of sheer ill-will, it will be that bad for them, because everyone will see right through that that and see that they are just trying to pick on the nation's first Latina Supreme Court justice without justification.
And that's going to be extremely bad politics for the party.
DOBBS: Raquel, my question -- well, I shouldn't say this, but I probably -- so what. I can't imagine them engaging in much worse politics than they have to this point, the leadership of the Republican Party.
Raquel, your response to Brent on that issue? RODRIGUEZ: My response goes to what happened to Miguel Lastrada. I think that refusing to bring him up to a vote through a filibuster or through a Senate hold was the ultimate act of ill-will, because he didn't get a full hearing on his record.
And I think we agree. Again, there ought to be a Senate inquiry into her record, and I think it ought to be a full and searching inquiry. I am one who doesn't believe that there ought to be filibusters that are based on nothing more than trying to keep somebody off the court. I think she deserves to be interviewed on the merits.
DOBBS: Brent you get the last word.
WILKES: Well, Lou, on Miguel Lastrada, I think our record is clear. We did support that nomination, we tried our hardest. We lost that one, and we were complaining about it.
But this is -- the states are so much higher with Sotomayor. And we think she's eminently well-qualified for this slot. I think people she our consistency as a community supporting well-qualified Latino candidates to the courts.
And we think that, in this case, Sonia Sotomayor is a brilliant jurist. If the Republicans really look at her record closely, they'll agree with Democrats that she's an outstanding jurist and should be seated on the Supreme Court without too much delay.
DOBBS: Interesting process to watch. Brent good to have you with us, Brent Wilkes. We thank you very much. Raquel Rodriguez, we thank you for being with us, we appreciate it. Thank you so much.
My next guest is on the verge of losing his home. He has spiraled into debt. He is an economic reporter who some say should have known better. How did it happen? We'll find out.
And the important information that hospitals simply are not telling you.
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DOBBS: The subprime mortgage disaster has affected millions of home owners all across this country, many of them in overwhelming debt. Many of them losing their homes are now facing the loss of those homes.
My guest tonight is one of those homeowners, and, surprisingly, he also knew better. He is "New York Times" economic reporter Edmund Andrews. Good to have you with us, Edmund. He's the author of the brand new book "Busted: Life Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown."
My god --
(LAUGHTER) EDMUND ANDREWS, AUTHOR, "BUSTED": Could you have ever imagined you'd be in this situation that you are in now as the author of this book chronicling the meltdown that you, yourself, have experienced?
ANDREWS: No. And most of my life actually was a pretty conservative life. One home that I owned before that for years and years, very conservative on finances.
The amazing thing was that in 2004, when I got on this merry adventure, I was actually writing some of the early --
DOBBS: What year?
ANDREWS: 2004.
DOBBS: Early, early.
ANDREWS: Long before the big headlines started. And I wrote a couple articles about the explosion of exotic mortgages in a kind of warning, cautionary way.
But just because you know your economics doesn't mean you practice them. And I fell in love. I fell madly in love. So I just --
DOBBS: And he's not talking about -- with mortgages or homes. He's talking about with a woman.
ANDREWS: With a woman, a woman. A woman named Patty, who I am now married to, and happily, although it has been quite a struggle over these years.
In any case, so I took the plunge into the most absurd and most exotic kinds of mortgages you could do, and it became --
DOBBS: Love blinded you?
ANDREWS: Love absolutely blinded me.
And so the idea of the book, though, was, that this would be -- I would use myself kind of as a case study. We'll start from the premise -- this was a nutty mortgage to begin with, absurd on its face. Why are the people willing to lend it to me? And how was all of this possible?
And I thought it would be a way to provide kind of a window on the overall calamity that we now have.
DOBBS: The window on this calamity, as you try to put forward what has happened here, you talk about the enablers, if you will. They were a little more than that. They were dealers and enablers -- the institutions, the various institutions that provided this cheap money.
For you, you're faced with child support, with alimony, a new marriage. And the "New York Times," was not -- well, they weren't being generous in their pay with you. I mean, a man in love should get --
ANDREWS: No, they were really generous.
DOBBS: -- they should give an extra stipend for any one of their reporters in love under those circumstances.
But how is it, that you, as an economics reporter, and I'm not saying this is not similar to the cobbler, it's always the shoemaker's children who suffer. But how is it that you could not have seen coming the various trends that you were reporting on as imminently about to hit the United States?
ANDREWS: Just because you're an economic supporter doesn't mean you can't fall madly in love. This is not about not seeing it. I saw it, all right. I knew absolutely clearly this is like by far the biggest gamble I was going to take. But --
DOBBS: You recognized it as a gamble?
ANDREWS: Oh, no, yes, absolutely. And, in fact, because I had written about it, I really was basically going, you know, making the sign of the cross, saying god, please forgive me for what I'm about to do here.
But you can invent scenarios, where -- plans where you think it will work out. And it was magical thinking, which is what a lot of people were doing.
I think in many ways, a very, you know, kind of good example of the flights of fancy that people were drawn into because, because the money was so available. I mean, I had these lenders falling over me to lend it to me.
And you know, that first mortgage on which I did not even disclose my income -- this is not a liar's loan. This was a no-ratio loan. I didn't tell them. I left that box blank and interest rate.
And the interest rate -- 5.6 percent.
DOBBS: Seems very high now, doesn't it?
(LAUGHTER)
ANDREWS: I thought it was a good deal.
DOBBS: When you started this book, did you intend to be -- did you -- did you start the book to talk about the meltdown, or did you start the book from the very beginning to talk about your role within the meltdown and how it affected you?
ANDREWS: No, no. I got the idea for the book -- I've been thinking there's got to be a great book in the mortgage meltdown. This is late '07.
And then I realized that the arc of my own experience paralleled the calamity. And it was already a catastrophe by the time I started. So I just fit it in.
DOBBS: All right. Well, it's good when you can bring work and life together, and an insightful book. And we appreciate you being with us.
And the book is, as you see right there in giant letters, Edmund Andrews' book "Busted: Life Inside the Mortgage Meltdown." I hope things improve, Edmund, for you quickly.
ANDREWS: Thank you.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Edmund Andrews. The book is "Busted." We recommend it highly.
Coming up at the top of the hour -- no bias no bull.
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DOBBS: Well, new evidence that many hospitals across the country are simply ignoring laws designed to protect their patients.
Hospitals are required to list a "problem doctor," so called, in a national databank. But a new study finds that hospitals routinely underreport the number of doctors who have been disciplined or lost their hospital privileges.
Louise Schiavone reports.
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LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you enter a hospital, can you be certain you're in good hands? There is a federal databank to help hospitals identify problem doctors.
But a new study, led by Dr. Sidney Wolfe, the acting president of Public Citizen, says it's not working.
DR. SIDNEY WOLFE, PUBLIC CITIZEN: 2,800 hospitals in the United States, almost half of all of the hospitals in the United States, have never disciplined and reported a doctor to this national databank in almost 20 years now.
SCHIAVONE: Congress created the National Practitioner Databank, effective 1990, to make it tougher for negligent doctors to escape their past mistakes by moving to a different state.
Expectations were high that hospitals would be full participants. But according to the Public Citizen's study, the results have been quite different. They found weak hospital peer review systems and hundreds of hospitals protecting their doctors by imposing sanctions less severe than those that would trigger mandatory reporting to the databank.
WOLFE: Why aren't hospitals doing a much better job disciplining doctors when it's appropriate?
SCHIAVONE: This critical care position was at California's Redding Medical Center for 25 years. At one point, he says, he suspected that a couple of cardiovascular surgeons were operating needlessly on hundreds of patients. He said his complaints fell on deaf ears as hospital administers kept their eyes on the bottom line.
DR. FRANK SEBAT, CRITICAL CARE PHYSICIAN: That hospital is a 180-bed community hospital making $100 million a year in profit before taxes. 50 percent of that profit was coming from the cardiovascular service.
SCHIAVONE: Eventually an FBI probe led to hundreds of lawsuits, the dismissal of cardiac surgeons, who along with hospital owners, paid hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties, and under a federal mandate, Redding Medical Center was sold in 2004.
The American Hospital Association tells CNN, quote -- "The premise that the number of reports received by the National Practitioner Databank correlates to jeopardized patient care is inaccurate. Hospitals are actively involved in a wide variety of efforts to continuously improve care and talk publicly about the are we provide," end quote.
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SCHIAVONE: Now, Lou, what if you, as a patient, wanted to check the National Practitioners Database? You cannot. Your doctor can't even check it before he refers another doctor to you.
Only some hospitals and some government agencies can check it. And if Washington is serious about healthcare reform, says Public Citizen, then databank law will have to change -- Lou?
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Louise. Louise Schiavone from Washington.
Well, Vice President Joe Biden tells a joke at the President Obama's expense. And we'll have our poll results next.
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DOBBS: Vice president Joe Biden today delivered the commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The vice president was telling graduates why they were important to the future of the military.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But it also needs a special brand of strategic thinking that are gained only in the thin air of Colorado Springs -- and the windy air of Colorado Springs.
(LAUGHTER)
What am I going to tell the president when I tell him his teleprompter is broken? What will he do then?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: I neglected to mention to you that the vice president's teleprompter blew over.
President Obama last month at the National Academy of Sciences read a bit too fast for his teleprompter, stumbled over his words. He has been the subject of a lot of late night comedians' jokes about teleprompters. It remains to be seen how amusing the president will find his vice president's comments today at the Air Force Academy.
Tonight's poll results -- 97 percent of you say taxpayer money should not be used to create jobs for foreign workers while Americans workers are collecting unemployment checks, just 97 percent.
A reminder to join me on the radio Mondays through Fridays for the Lou Dobbs show, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. each afternoon on WOR 710 Radio in New York City. Go to loudobbsradio.com to get the local listings for the Lou Dobbs show in your local area.
We thank you for being with us tonight, and please join us tomorrow. For all of us here, we thank you for watching. Goodnight from New York.
"NO BIAS, NO BULL" starts right now. In for Campbell Brown, Roland Martin -- Roland?
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, Lou, thanks so much.
Folks, something terrible is happening to our troops. They risk everything to defend our country. But now a growing number of U.S. soldiers are taking their own lives.
Tonight one Army base is taking extraordinary steps to try and stop it.
