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Lou Dobbs This Week
Recapping the Week's Political and Economic Stories
Aired April 05, 2008 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KITTY PILGRIM, GUEST HOST: The only member of the Bush administration with the courage to talk to Lou on this issue will join us: U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab. We'll have all that and much more on straight ahead tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK: News, debate, and opinion. Here now: Kitty Pilgrim.
PILGRIM: Good evening, everybody.
The issue of race and politics continues to overshadow the presidential campaign. Senator Obama is trying to put the controversy about his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright behind him. And religious leaders meeting in Obama's church called for a national conversation on race. But there's no doubt, identity and gender politics remain a big issue on the campaign trail.
Candy Crowley has a special report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 1971 South Carolina, Barack Obama took the stage in Columbia with the crowd chanting race doesn't matter. But of course, it does.
DR. ALVIN POUSSAINT, JUDGE BAKER CHILDREN'S CENTER: I think, you can get beyond race in America, you know, because of our history, continuing racial prejudice and tension between the races, and I think it's there. So you can't exactly transcend it or put it aside. And what we saw happen is that it emerged anyway.
CROWLEY: And it emerged in ways that baffled many whites and felt familiar to many blacks.
ROLAND MARTIN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: African-Americans have always understood cold language.
CROWLEY: Race has been like an undertow in the campaign, occasionally pulling everyone under. One late night in New Hampshire, Bill Clinton was criticizing Obama's statements on the Iraq war.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: This whole thing is the biggest fairytale I've ever seen.
CROWLEY: And several black leaders said privately that they saw Clinton's statement as part of the concerted effort to question the legitimacy of the Obama campaign. As one put it at the time, it's like the Clintons are saying, who does Obama think he is.
MARTIN: In a sound-byte culture we all of sudden say, you know, all of the stuff I've been hearing from Obama is a fairytale and the average American is saying, wait a minute, what are you talking about? Are you talking about the fact that he is running for president. He actually can't be president.
CROWLEY: And on and on and including former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro who said this of Obama's campaign success: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." To some ears, it is code for you "got your job because you're black."
POUSSAINT: And interpreted that to that somehow Obama was some product of affirmative action in some way and didn't have the qualifications to be the president of the United States.
CROWLEY: A furious Ferraro said that the Obama campaign was playing the race card, deliberately misinterpreting what she said.
Still nothing shook up the race more than Obama's pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright whose angry anti-American words from the pulpit offended many whites while the blacks to defense at the repeated playing of the few sound bytes to represent a 30-year career in the pursuit of social justice. The undertow of race turned into a tsunami that Obama faced with a broad speech about the parallel universes of black and white.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We may have different stories, but we hold common hopes. And we may not look the same and may not have come from the same place, be we all want to move in the same direction.
CROWLEY: Some people, black and white, believe however painful, this has been a learning experience. Race still matters, but however the '08 campaign ends, maybe it will matter less.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: We have new polls about what voters think about a black president or a woman president. The results are surprising. Bill Schneider has the report. Bill, what are voters saying about race and gender in?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, we asked voters whether they thought the country is ready to elect a black president, and the answer is 76 percent yes, which has been going up now for the last year and half. What about a woman president? That's a little bit lower, 63 percent.
Does that mean that people think that there is more prejudice against the woman than an African-American? Well, it probably has a lot to do with this woman and this African-American, because Barack Obama's favorability numbers are noticeably higher, significantly higher in the polls than Hillary Clinton's. So, very likely, people aren't thinking in terms of stereotypes but in terms of this candidate, or these candidates for president. Kitty?
PILGRIM: So, it's a very specific answer.
SCHNEIDER: Yes.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much, Bill Schneider.
Well, away from the campaign trail, the battle is escalating over the outsourcing of our defense and national security. The General Accountability Office is investigating the Pentagon's decision to buy tanker planes from Europe, and not this country.
Now, many lawmakers are furious that the Pentagon is prepared to spend as much as $40 billion on foreign aircraft. Another European product is a prime example of out of control spending at the Pentagon. Many U.S. weapons are also massively overbudget. The General Accountability Office says, almost 100 military programs are costing more than expected.
Jamie McIntyre reports from Pentagon.
Jamie?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kitty, you would think that the Pentagon has learned a thing or two about not paying too much for weapons but from the same folks who brought you the $400 hammer and $600 toilet seat, comes the nearly $300 billion cost overrun.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): The new Marine One helicopter is a textbook example of why nearly everything that the Pentagon buys costs way more than it's supposed to. Back in 2005, the Navy agreed to buy 28 basic helicopters to carry the president around for $6 billion.
That was before the White House decided that the president wouldn't be fully protected unless the chopper got a few upgrades so it could fly 350 miles without refueling, evade radar and missile attacks, and even withstand the electromagnetic pulse generated by a nuclear blast.
$6 billion ballooned to $11 billion and the whole deal is now on hold while the Pentagon figures out what to do about the fact that each Marine One helicopter will cost $400 million. That's more than Air Force One which you may recall is a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
TOM SCHATZ, CITIZENS AGAINST GOVT. WASTE: They just really can't follow exactly what they want or plan that far ahead, because these are unproven technologies. Nothing wrong with the ambition, but there is certainly something wrong with the process.
MCINTYRE: And Marine One isn't even the worst offender.
Government Accountability Office reports cites 95 Pentagon programs that are over budget by a total of $295 billion. Back before September 11th, the Pentagon was buying 75 major weapon systems totaling $795 billion. Today's count is 95 projects totaling the whooping $1.6 trillion.
The GAO found that the Pentagon consistently underestimates what things will cost. Take the new Joint Strike Fighter, $97 million a pop. That's 36 percent over budget.
The Navy's new coastal combat ship designed for shallow water, $472 million apiece. That's 100 percent over budget. Even updating the workhorse C130 cargo plane is a budget buster. New avionics is up $2 billion, up 323 percent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: So, why can't the Pentagon get realistic cost estimates and then hold the defense contractors to them? Well, the GAO says it's because the military keeps changing its mind, often adding new technology requirements that result in expensive, gold-plated weapons that take longer to develop and longer to field. Kitty?
PILGRIM: Still to come: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the pro- amnesty lobby are targeting Lou. Imagine that? Lou will give his response next.
And: Disturbing new evidence of the huge crisis in our nation's public schools. We'll have a special report on that and much more straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LOU DOBBS, HOST: New attacks tonight by some open border advocates and pro-amnesty groups suggesting that immigration enforcement is racially motivated. These groups are apparently planning a new round of May Day protest around the country, because government is trying to enforce law.
And of course, those protests will be taking place in amongst other places Los Angeles, California. Last year's marches in L.A. ended in confrontation with the police.
Casey Wian has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last May 1st, thousands of pro-illegal alien amnesty activists march in Los Angeles. The rally has ended in a violent confrontation with police. This May 1st, amnesty proponents are coming back for more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are organizing our people to participate in the march. We are calling the Spanish-speaking immigrants for action.
WIAN: And calling immigration law enforcement racially motivated.
JUAN JOSE GUTIERREZ, LATINO MOVEMENT USA: It's unconscionable that now that you have a majority of immigrants that are non-white to reject them and to condemn them to the role of modern day slaves in 21st century America. We are not going to stop until we get comprehensive immigration reform which means granting legalization to the 12 million or more undocumented workers in America.
WIAN: The New York-based pro-illegal alien group is demanding that Amtrak and Greyhound begin warning passengers they could be inspected by immigration authorities.
(PEOPLE CHANTING): Transportation not deportation.
WIAN: They also want refunds for passengers who are deported.
MARIA MUENTES, FAMILIES FOR FREEDOM: I'm here today to demand that Amtrak stop collaborating with immigration and laying a trap for immigrants.
WIAN: Amtrak says it will continue to cooperate not collaborate with the Customs and Border Protection's random inspections. Greyhound says it is under no obligation to inform customers of law enforcement actions.
In San Francisco, city officials are spending more than $80,000 tax payer dollars on an advertising campaign to publicize the city's status as a sanctuary for illegal aliens.
GAVIN NEWSOM, MAYOR, SAN FRANCISCO: We have been very concerned in the last year and a half or two years with the renewed vigor by the federal government and ICE to adopt new strategies for immigration raids. We are very concerned about a lot of the language, the incendiary language that has been used in the last number of years, both in Congress and on right-wing radio, and on cable TV, where careers are literally being saved and salvaged like Lou Dobbs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: And Lou, you might be interested to know that Mayor Newsom reportedly is considering a run for governor in 2010. It raises the question: does he plan to make all of California a sanctuary state? Lou.
DOBBS: Well, there are those, of course, as you know, Casey, who would suggest that California is a sanctuary state.
WIAN: We still have cities in the state that do try to help the Feds and enforce immigration laws. They're few and far between but they're here.
DOBBS: I understand and it's appropriate and important to acknowledge them as exceptions to what I think is a California rule, is it not?
WIAN: Absolutely.
DOBBS: Well, while Mayor Newsom was taking shots at me, I have to say, Casey, he's done this, we counted it up, I think, the number he has declared - now, whenever he is sort of, I guess, feeling wistful and neglected by the media, he declares again that San Francisco is a sanctuary city. He's done -- do you have the count? I think it's something like -
WIAN: Yes, we counted since 2006 including this latest declaration, nine times as what we counted. And you know, and this is just taking at a step farther, actually spending taxpayer money to promote the fact that San Francisco is not going to do anything about illegal immigration.
Apparently, you know, all of the legal residents and the U.S. citizens in San Francisco have all of the social services they need, because the city has plenty of money to promote this for illegal aliens, Lou.
DOBBS: Well, the mayor is suggesting -- and by the way that comment he made, I think the mayor really - it's unfortunate and I'm very concerned, the mayor said he was concerned, I'm very concerned that he's not being fair and frank and fully disclosing what he is doing here.
He did not give credit, Casey Wian, to Geraldo Rivera whose charges he was repeating there. And I think that that just shows a lack of originality on the part of Mayor Newsom. That is just, I think, is regrettable, don't you?
WIAN: Absolutely. And there is a lack of originality throughout this pro-amnesty movement. They're talking about immigrants and they're not talking about illegal aliens, it's (INAUDIBLE).
DOBBS: Well, I love the fact that group - there, you are going to have to refresh me, I don't remember the name of the group, they're demanding that they've be given citizenship in this country which is completely obviating any suggestion that of course, it's a privilege to be a citizen of this country and that it is a matter of public policy decision in this country by our lawfully-elected government. I mean, what was that group again?
WIAN: Well, that particular group is Latino Movement USA. They're just one of several pro-amnesty groups that believe that, you know, breaking the law allows you a ticket to U.S. citizenship.
DOBBS: Well, if anyone wanted to stop, absolutely, any suggestion of amnesty, they would allow that group to continue to make those kinds of statements, because they are just about as ignorant and arrogant as you possibly could be at a time when we need to be reasoning about first border security, establishing border and port security and then discussing it at some point after that security is established what our public policy will be on immigration.
Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Casey Wian.
PILGRIM: Congress on Thursday heard new evidence of the impact of Mexico's violent drug cartels. Congressman John Culberson described an all-out assault by well-organized and heavily-armed drug traffickers. Prosecutions to those traffickers have been few. In fact, Culberson said, frustrated Border Patrol officials told him that the U.S. attorney general in Tucson has declared there would be no prosecution of cases involving less than 500 pounds of drugs.
Louise Schiavone reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite these assurances from the attorney general to Congress -
MICHAEL MUKASEY, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We are about stopping people who are making tons of money out of ruining other people's lives.
SCHIAVONE: One Texas lawmaker says the cross border drug trade around Tucson is thriving and claims the U.S. attorney general there is doing little about it.
REP. JOHN CULBERSON, (R) TEXAS: If you are arrested by a Border Patrol agent in the Tucson sector carrying less than 1/4 ton of dope, then you have a 99.6 percent chance of being home in time for dinner and never going to jail, because the U.S. Attorney's Office is not prosecuting them.
SCHIAVONE: Culberson says, Border Patrol agents told him that U.S. Attorney Diane Humetewa alerted them, she would not prosecute anyone arrested with less than 500 pounds of dope.
CULBERSON: They're laughing at us. I mean, the smugglers are laughing at us out there and it's a terrible problem.
SCHIAVONE: The attorney general responded -
MUKASEY: My experience did not coincide with yours and I think I need to revisit this by phone or otherwise in so far as this supposed 500- pound threshold.
SCHIAVONE: Culberson is not just concerned about drugs. He says he found this notice tacked up in a Nogales-Arizona Border Patrol office indicating, the U.S. Attorney's Office would turn its attention primary to violent crimes and would not prosecute crimes under the part of the U.S. Criminal Code that covers illegal entry.
The office of the U.S. Attorney Diane Humetewa offered no comment to any of this, telling LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, quote, "We have nothing to add to what the attorney general has already said," end quote.
Culberson raised the same issues in a February letter to Humetewa copied to Mukasey, noting, quote, "Your primary duty is to protect our citizens by enforcing our laws and you have clearly failed in that task," end quote.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHIAVONE: Kitty, Culberson whose constituents include the parents of President Bush, says he's trying to be tactful. He says he's determined to get something done for the citizens of these cross- border communities who become victims of resulting lawlessness. He says, their government is letting them down. Kitty.
PILGRIM: Certainly is. Louise, how has the Arizona Attorney's Office responded?
SCHIAVONE: The U.S. attorney in Arizona according to Culberson has been in his words, aggressively uncooperative. He says that he was treated with absolutely no respect when he's gone to the U.S. Attorney's Office and said, how about prosecuting these cases, what kind of support do you need from Congress, how can I make this better, and, they just do not want to deal with him.
PILGRIM: That's a disaster. Thanks very much, Louise Schiavone.
Well, coming up: Disturbing new evidence of the crisis in our public education system. We'll have a special report on the soaring dropout rate in the nation's schools.
And: The only administration official with the guts to appear on this broadcast and discuss the president's free trade agenda: U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and she sat down with Lou. You will not want to miss their frank discussions.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: An alarming new report tonight on the high school dropout rate in this country. America's Promise Alliance says more than 1 million students are dropping out of high school each year and only half of all of the students in the nation's largest cities are actually graduating from high school.
Lisa Sylvester has our special report.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Detroit, only one in four public high school students is graduating, one out of every four. Detroit ranks at the bottom of the list of dropout rates of urban schools. Indianapolis, Cleveland, Baltimore and Columbus round out the school districts with the worst graduation rates, according to a new report.
MARGUERITE KONDRACKE, AMERICA'S PROMISE ALLIANCE: In this great land of ours, and in the global economy that we are all a part of, we have got to have every young person at a minimum, finish high school.
SYLVESTER: The report by America's Promise Alliance founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell finds, nationally nearly one in three U.S. high school students is not getting a diploma; and in 17 of the country's 50 largest cities, more students drop out than graduate. The problem is worse in urban and minority communities, and areas where poverty rates are higher and parental involvement lower. JAN HARP DOMENE, NATL. COAL. FOR PARENT INVOLVENMENT IN ED.: We are finding in the urban communities that we are not getting as much involvement. It's not that parents don't care, of course, they care about their kids. But I think that they are so overburdened with two parents working in the household or a single-family household.
SYLVESTER: And everyone pays the price. The Alliance for Excellent Education says, dropouts from the class of 2006-2007 will cost U.S. taxpayers more than $329 billion in lost wages, taxes, and productivity over their lifetimes.
(on-camera): Part of the problem is that states have used different ways of calculating their graduation rates leading to inconsistent data and that's actually masked the extent of the problem.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced plans to develop a uniform formula to shed light on what she calls a silent epidemic.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Time now for some of your thoughts. Tony in Alabama wrote: "Lou, it is 3:00 a.m. and no one will answer my call. Their caller I.D. must know I'm a member of the middle-class."
Eileen in Maine wrote, "Dear Lou, I want to thank you for protecting the fundamental values on which this country is based. Whether it is protecting our borders, exposing the war on the middle class, or just standing up and telling what is right and telling it like it is. I appreciate being able to watch an unbiased news program with my children so that they can truly understand the issues that will shape their future."
Orrin in Michigan: "Thanks, Lou, for showing me the light, I will be voting as an independent in the upcoming election."
We love hearing from you. E-mail us at: LouDobbs.com and each of you whose e-mail us right here will receive a copy of Lou's book, "Independents Day."
Please join Lou on the radio, Monday through Friday for the Lou Dobbs show. Go to LouDobbs.com to find the local listing for the Lou Dobbs show on the radio.
And coming up: Lou will talk with the only Bush administration official who has the courage the face him on the issue of so-called free trade: U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.
Also: Thousands of our children diagnosed with autism each and every year and we'll be joined by one of the country's leading authorities on autism, Dr. Thomas Insel.
And also: Race and politics on the campaign trail. It will continue to be a major issue in the presidential campaign. Four top political analysts will join me. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RICK SANCHEZ: Hi, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the headquarters of CNN. And LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK is going to continue in just a little bit. But let's bring (ph) you up to date on some of the stories that we're following for you right now.
Former Republican congressman, Bob Barr says he might run for president as a libertarian. Barr says that he's going to make a final decision by Memorial Day. He's been very critical of the Republicans since 9/11 and especially their stands on civil liberties.
Boy, we've got a lot of weather systems all over the country and a lot of folks, especially the southwest had been feeling the brunt of it. Where's it going next? Jacqui Jeras is joining us now.
What you got, Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Rick. It's been a really ugly day across northern parts of Florida and now, the severe thunderstorm watch has just been expired at the top of the hour. But we're still seeing some isolated severe storms that have a history of producing some very damaging winds.
In fact, just west of the Gainesville area, power outages and a lot of trees down in the town of Newberry. That thunderstorm warning has been continued now extended into Bradford County. So, watch out for the damaging winds. You need to stay inside until those storms pass. And in Jacksonville area, you will see some stormy weather for the next hour or so.
Look at the state of moisture. What an incredible amount of moisture coming in with the storms and the moisture of the Gulf of Mexico and it has brought some incredible amounts of rainfall. In facts, six to 10 inches around the western part of the Panhandle around the Pensacola area. So, a little bit of flash flooding and that rain is going to spread up into the Mid-Atlantic and it would be an ugly day into the northeast.
Rick?
SANCHEZ: I guess, the good news is, they really do need the rain in parts of those areas, right?
JERAS: Yes, many of these areas, unfortunately, it's coming a little bit too much, too fast.
SANCHEZ: And it has to be on a Saturday or on a weekend, right?
All right. Thanks a lot, Jacqui.
Volkswagen Passat owners are taking notice: 410,000 gasoline-powered Passats are being recalled that were made between 1999 and 2005. The potential problems are a heat shield on certain models, a fuel line, or in some, a gas tank ventilation valve. We'll keep track of that.
I'm Rick Sanchez. Let's take you back to Lou now in LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK.
LOU DOBBS, CNN, HOST: The Bush administration continuing to push its free trade agenda. A policy that has cost millions of Americans their jobs and the president wants agreements now with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea approved by Congress before he leaves office. The administration official leading the President's push for free trade is U.S. Trade representative ambassador Susan Schwab. She joins me here in Washington, D.C.. And I have as I would like to tell everybody, Ambassador Schwab is one of the few people in this administration at the top levels, secretary levels, ambassador levels with the guts to actually push the administration's proposals in the face of those who disagree wit it. So I compliment you on both that courage and the directness with which you apply yourself to your job. So welcome.
AMB. SUSAN SCHWAB, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you. Very happy to be here.
DOBBS: Free trade, it sucks. And I have been saying that for years. You think it is a panacea for much, your president does. You want a free trade agreement with Colombia, why?
SCHWAB: Free and fair trade. You look at the strongest most positive point in the U.S. economy today and it's U.S. exports. 40 percent of our economic growth last year was attributable to the increase in exports. So here you've got this deal with Colombia that we have negotiated and you can throw around a lot of aggregate numbers about jobs and trade and we put these together one deal at a time. And this deal, even Lou Dobbs should like.
Right now, Colombia gets almost unlimited access to the U.S. market and 92 percent of what Colombia produces has been coming in here duty- free since 1991. This free trade agreement opens Colombia's market to our exports and that means Caterpillar tractors. It means John Deere equipment in Illinois. It means Sony televisions out of Pennsylvania.
DOBBS: Coca-cola.
SCHWAB: Apples, poultry, rice.
DOBBS: Wait a minute, Sony television out of Pennsylvania.
SCHWAB: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ship to Columbia. We have today 8,000 small and medium-sized businesses that ship to Colombia. Right now, they face tariffs up to 35 percent and here is the key, if we are going to be competitive vis-a-vis China for example those 8,000 small and medium-sized companies are competing with the Chinese for the Colombian market. If this free trade agreement goes through, we have the edge, we are more competitive.
DOBBS: Well, there should be any doubt about it, because if we have our markets open to 92 percent of Colombia's exports already, what in the world could China do that would be better than that? This is a $14 trillion economy, and what do we get from - I mean, what does Colombia get by allowing us to send our exports into Colombia, because this is sort of a unique reversal. It's an inverse free trade deal from the typical deals constructed over the course of the years.
SCHWAB: Well, it's similar to the agreement that went through the Congress by an overwhelming majority with Peru. It is an example where because the U.S. has very low import restrictions, as you know, very low tariffs, when we do a deal with a country that has trade preferences like this or a country that has very high barriers, it makes a huge amount of sense, these are U.S. jobs, U.S. farmers, U.S. small business people. And the reason that the Colombians want to do it is they've had these temporary references rolled over since 1991, and they want to lock it in and have that stability.
DOBBS: What does Congress saying right now?
SCHWAB: We're waiting to find out. But we need Congress to move on this. This is in the U.S. interests. It's the interest in our economy. I mean, you would need, I assume you would agree that it is really a good deal for American workers and American farmers by any definition.
DOBBS: What I don't agree is that the overall policy of free trade by this administration, of the previous administration and point of fact since 1976 is in the interest of the United States. We have run 32 consecutive years of trade deficits, and we need to get our handle on what is a sensible trade policy. This business nonsense of, is this administration has advanced it even before you were trade representative I would say.
You know, that Mr. Market is, you know, if Mr. Market is happy, we're all happy and that is such utter nonsense in international trade and international finance and in our domestic economy. we are going to be paying for those misjudgments for years, and future generations for years if we don't come to terms with it. Why can we not have a rational balanced mutual reciprocal trade policy?
SCHWAB: Well, I think that we do, and if you look at out trade agenda. If you look at the President's trade agenda, we are talking about free and fair trade and we're talking about being tough in terms of enforcing existing trade agreements whether those are agreements associated with China coming in to with the WTO.
DOBBS: Then why do we have an $800 billion account deficit?
SCHWAB: Well, a lot as you know, a lot of macroeconomic factors but when it comes to trade agreements, when it comes to trade agreements, U.S. exports to those countries where we have free trade agreements have gone up much faster than our exports to the rest of the world. Our trade deficit or surplus with any of these free trade agreement countries has improved with most of these countries during the course of this administration.
DOBBS: Susan Schwab, thank you for being here. U.S. trade representative.
SCHWAB: Thanks for the invitation.
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN, ANCHOR: Coming up, the causes of autism remain a profound mystery. We will have a special report and Lou will sit down with the director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Also, Senator Obama's church calls for a sacred conversation about race. We will discuss the issues of race and politics and much more with four of the country's leading political analysts. So stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: The number of reported cases of autism in this country climbing at an alarming rate. Now, this year more than 25,000 children in the United States will be diagnosed with autism. Scientists have proven that this disorder is present in children's brains before the age of 3, but the causes of autism remain a profound mystery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM (voice-over): This is an image of autism. Dr. Eric Courchesne and Dr. Karen Pierce at the University of California Autism Center are looking for abnormalities in the brains of young infants who develop autism.
DR. ERIC COURCHESENE, UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA AUTISM CENTER: This region of the brain here, the frontal lobe is larger than a typical child his age.
PILGRIM: Autism is a developmental disability that causes impairment of social behavior and communication, and can include unusual behaviors and interests. Jimmy is a patient at the clinic, and he is undergoing an MRI to better analyze what is happening in his brain.
COURCHESENE: New imagining techniques, new genetics techniques, new techniques for identifying molecular characterizations, characteristics and blood samples now make it possible to really understand the genetics, the underlying molecular biology and the brain basis for this disorder in a way that was never dreamed of ten years ago.
PILGRIM: Early diagnosis means early treatment and the chance of a better life for each child. Research like this may also identify new types of autism. The definition of autism was expanded in 1994 and since then the number of cases has been going up.
COURCHESENE: Well, there is a increase in the rate of autism. When I first began research years ago, there was about 1 in 2,000 but now it is estimated that it's about 1 in 150. So that is an alarming difference.
PILGRIM: The cause is still unknown and most researchers agree it is partly genetic but what triggers autism is still not known. Dr. Courchesene talks about the theory that early childhood vaccines may trigger autism.
COURCHESENE: One of the concerns was thimerosal which is a chemical that was used as a preservative in vaccines. The concern about thimerosal as a possible cause or trigger for autism is now considered to be really rejected. Because, it is no longer in the vaccines and the rates of autism remain high.
PILGRIM: Dr. Susan Swedo at the National Institute of Mental Health is working to discover possible environmental triggers to autism.
DR SUSAN SWEDO, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH: This is a brain- based disease in which the children have a genetic vulnerability, but something in the environment has triggered it in them.
PILGRIM: She is focusing her research on viruses or microbes that may be a trigger for autism.
SWEDO: Many people think of environmental triggers as vaccines or toxins or something that man has done to them, but we also know that the microbes are changing and it is equally possible that it is a virus or bacterial infection.
PILGRIM: For patients like Jimmy, there is still no clear answer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: The medical researchers we interviewed stressed that family pediatricians are the first to encounter disease. The early diagnosis in their practice make it possible to research patients at in the earliest stages of autism. Well, Lou sat down with one of the country's leading experts in the country on autism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Joining me now is Dr. Thomas Insel. He is director of the National Institute of Mental Health and one of the country's leading authorities on autism if not the leading authority. Dr. Insel, good to have you here.
DR. THOMAS INSEL, INTERAGENCY AUTISM COORD CMTE.: Good to be here.
DOBBS: This rapid epidemic surge in the incidents of this disease has been going on now for years and years now and not just since the turn of the century. What in the world to best of your understanding is driving this rapid escalation of the disorder?
INSEL: Well, we know a little bit about what the magnitude of that change is. As Dr. Courchesene mentioned in the peace that Kitty did, it has gone from about 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 150 over the course of a decade. So that is a profound increase in what we could call prevalence, the number of cases you can count.
Now, during that time, it's true that the diagnosis was changed a bit. It was widened and it's also true that we have gotten much better at detecting this disorder and perhaps actually identifying children who before would have been missed or given some other diagnosis, but it is also possible as Dr. Courchesene suggested that there is a real increase, and there are more kids with this illness than were present ten years ago.
DOBBS: We know that the parents of these children with this disorder think that there is a tremendous increase in the incidents of it. There is great fear amongst expectant parents of this disease, and there is -- it seems reasonable that there should be a great and broad concern in our society as a whole. What to the best of your understanding - and if you can put this in terms that even I as a television journalist can understand. What is your best, best possible understanding of what is driving, creating or causing this disease?
INSEL: The cause is still very much a mystery. This is one of those places where we have a lot more questions than answers. It's clear that this is a complex. It's really an umbrella and it maybe better to talk about autisms, and so as we think about this, it is a spectrum. On the one hand, you've got kids who have seizures. severe mental retardation and no language and really almost unable to function. On the other hand, you have kids still within the autism spectrum who may have a very restricted interest and a few mechanical things may relate better to machines than people, but they are going to grow up to be great engineers and maybe not television journalists but they will do well in some part of life.
DOBBS: That whole spectrum.
INSEL: If you call that doing better, fair enough. But what you see here is this is a whole spectrum. It's not a single illness. It's not a single syndrome even. The only thing that you could say about all of these kids and all of these people is that by age three they had these factors. They have the social deficit, they have problems with language and in some way, they had these very restricted and sometimes stereotyped interests.
DOBBS: One of the complaints that I have heard from parents of children with autism is that there is not enough money spent on research. They are desperate for the research. They are desperate for help. This is an ugly, ugly, ugly disorder that the parents must deal with in their children and I don't think there is certainly an appreciation of the tremendous pain and burden that parents experience in this disease. What are we doing next to do something for the parents of these children? What are we doing next for these children?
INSEL: These are great questions. Certainly, we are hearing the same thing from parents across this spectrum. People want answers, and they want to know what caused this in my child and what can I do about it and if I am going to have another child what can I do to make sure that the next one doesn't get it as well. So first of all, I should say there is a profound increase in the research investment here, because these are science questions. The investment at NIH, the National Institute of Health alone has gone from $22 million to $126 million this year over the last decade, so you will see this six-fold increase is really ramping up because of interest.
DOBBS: Is it enough?
INSEL: It is probably never going to be enough. I mean, what will determine when it is enough is when we have the answers. We are going to have to bring more people, more money and more intensity to this fight. Well, Dr. Insel, thanks to you for trying to help us understand this disorder and what is happening and what is required. Thanks to everyone working in science and medicine trying to help these children and their parents and future generations. Thank you very much, Dr. Thomas Insel.
INSEL: Well, thanks for having me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Coming up, the campaign issue that won't go away, race and politics. We will discuss that and much more with four of the country's top political analysts so stay with us.
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PILGRIM: Joining me now from Memphis, Tennessee, is Errol Louis of the "New York Daily News," in Washington, Diana West of the "Washington Times" and here in New York, syndicated columnist Miguel Perez and democratic strategist Hank Sheinkofp, and all CNN contributors.
You know, I really should ask you Errol as you're standing in Memphis, it's the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King and what do you think in terms of where you're standing and what you are hearing, what do you think is the status of race and politics in this country today.
ERROL LOUIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's very interesting where I am standing in front of the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was assassinated. This has been like a civil rights convention. There have been any number of lectures and marches and conferences and religious services all dedicated to trying to understand his life and project forward what the next 40 years will look like.
There really is no consensus other than I think that issues of poverty which was the last campaign of Dr. King's life is an unfinished mission that a lot of people and organizations are talking about continuing now.
PILGRIM: And poverty and the economy is very much on the minds of voters. Let me just bring up a CNN "Essence Magazine" opinion research poll. And the question is, is the country ready for a black president and they asked all Americans, and you got 76 percent said yes. Now, what's interesting is they asked black and whites separately and that's where you get some interesting results. The same shows 78 percent of whites believe that the country is ready for a black president, just 69 percent of blacks. Errol, let's ask you first. What do you make of these results?
LOUIS: Well, I mean, I guess I would call that gap the pessimism gap. There was a belief early on before the Iowa caucuses that Barack Obama would go nowhere and in fact, that led a lot of people a lot of leaders to stick with Hillary Clinton. It was only when he made that sort of surprise move in Iowa that people began to think, oh gee, maybe the nation has changed.
I think that the difference in the polls really just suggests that if you are a black American, you have a lot more to lose if you are wrong on that question. So, I think you see a certain amount of caution when it comes to this question of whether or not the country is ready for a black president.
PILGRIM: Miguel, thought on this?
MIGUEL PEREZ, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I am ready to vote for a black president, but the question is whether I agree with him on the issues. Unfortunately, there is a lot of Americans who don't feel like I do. And there are a lot of Americans who will not vote for him simply because of race. Now, that is just a group of Americans, not all Americans and not all Americans who are going to switch to McCain, because last week I made this comment here. Some people think that it applies, I'm talking about them. And a lady wrote me last week saying, how dare you say this about me. Lady, I don't know you. It is just a few people that feels that the not vote for a black man.
PILGRIM: Yes. Well, race and gender are very much hot topics and of course, gender is also in this too, Diana.
DIANA WEST, "WASHINGTON TIMES": Yes, well, I think those are healthy numbers. I'd be interested in when that poll was actually taken. I think that the candidacy of Barack Obama has just been an astonishing validation of America, excuse me, contemplating of being ready to have a black president and again, we are coming down to what are the policies, and on the democratic side, we have the gender issues you mentioned and two candidates who are almost indistinguishable policy wise and I don't know how -- it would be interesting to see if that poll has also taken that into consideration.
PILGRIM: Now, just for the viewer information March 26th to April 2nd was the duration of the time for that poll. Hank, thoughts on this.
HANK SHEINKOPF, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: A nation that is not ready to confront its future in this way would not have those numbers. It shows how far we have come into the legacy of Dr. King on this day is that we are still having this discussion and still trying to make it work.
WEST: But is that the legacy of Dr. King in terms of wanting to judge people by the content of their character? I think, I mean, that the legacy has shifted over these 40 years to be one that is less, less close to his words and more close to sticking with skin color which I think that I wish we could work on in the next 40 years getting away from.
PILGRIM: Nevertheless, this campaign seems to be encompassing all of these issues at once and as Miguel points out, policy is important, but so are the other considerations. We will be right back with more of out political panel in just a moment. Stay with us.
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PILGRIM: I am back with Errol, Diana, Miguel and Hank. Let's go straight to the controversy over Obama's church this week. Let's listen to a comment about race by Reverend John Thomas who is president of the United Church of Christ. He in essence defended Reverend Wright's controversial comments. Let's listen.
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REV. JOHN THOMAS, PRESIDENT, UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: It is a requirement of a sacred conversation first that we acknowledge sacredness in one another, but that does not mean that our language is always going to be gentle and quiet and graceful, because racism is not gentle and quiet and graceful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Your reaction, Miguel, to this and can Obama put this behind him or do you think this will continue to be a discussion?
PEREZ: Look, you can be gentle, but you don't have to be offensive. This language is obviously too strong. It's not the kind of language which we hear in churches and Obama will not put this behind him. This will come back again in the general election.
PILGRIM: Errol, your thoughts?
LOUIS: Well, I tend to disagree with that to tell you the truth. I mean, what we are talking about is a political question of why this candidate did not reject his own pastor. I think that six months from now in light of the economic news that we just got today with 80,000 lost jobs in the last month alone. We are clearly in a recession, I would hope that American voters will have more on their minds than why this person, why this candidate didn't have a different relationship with his pastor and I guess with god.
PILGRIM: Yes. Let's look at some Quinnipiac University poll for Pennsylvania, likely democratic primary voters and so let's take a look at how Clinton and Obama are doing and you see right there that from March to April, there has been a little bit of a slip for Hillary Clinton. Your thoughts, Hank?
SHEINKOPF: Well, it is the trump's minister here, that's what's going on here. And people are paying more attention more closely.
PILGRIM: You think so. Diana, go ahead.
WEST: I think that this is going to come down to such an emotional temperature, this whole decision, and I do think that Reverend Wright's comments are going to continue to be part of Senator Obama's discussion of character and personality and vision. So, I think that we have not seen the end of any of this despite the United Church of Christ's spokesman's comments which really could be used to excuse almost any hate speech or invective so I'm surprised to hear that kind of thing.
PILGRIM: Yes. Let's listen to what, actually Howard Dean is very intent on getting Florida delegates seated in Denver. And I want to read to you what he said. "We are all committed to doing everything we can to ensure that the Florida delegation is seated in Denver. We can all agree to whatever the solution is and it must have the support of both campaigns." Now, we see these numbers very, very tight. Do you think that both campaigns would support this? Miguel?
PEREZ: Well, it depends on, you know, if it is a figuratively speaking we will sit them there and they don't have any power, and sit them there. What good is that? It's phony and I don't get it.
SHEINKOPF: Absolutely ridiculous and Hillary Clinton has a right beef here. They should have been allowed to rerun those races, those delegations. She would have won, however, if that were to occur and it's not going to occur, the DNC would have to say, wait a second, we are not trying to rob Barack Obama here and that is what they are fooling with and the democrats are going to be angry and in those states, those are places where democratic votes are really needed and they are going to need the drift come the fall.
PIGIRM: The potential to be very contentious. Go ahead, Diana.
WEST: I was just going to say think about how tidy this would be if the state parties actually were held to the original rules, they were told to do a certain thing by the national party they wouldn't be seated. If the national party and sort of grown-ups voters actually acknowledged the fact that they broke the rules we wouldn't be having this discussion of how to smudge things and fudge the rules. It's kind of an interesting morality play. I think if you can step away from it.
PILGRIM: I'm afraid we won't be able to step away from it. Errol, go ahead.
LOUIS: Well, I mean, lets keep it in mind this is a practical business and Governor Dean is a very practical man. What I hear him saying is that once the Florida delegation won't make any difference in the outcome of the election, of the nominating contest, then fine, seat them. Count them all for Hillary if you want, but I suspect that it will be a different kind of a question if the Florida delegates are in fact the margin of victory for either candidate. I just don't anticipate that happening and I don't think that governor Dean does either.
PILGRIM: All right. That's an interesting point. Diana West, Errol Louis, Miguel Perez, Hank Sheinkopf, thank you all for being here. Thank you for joining us. Please join us tomorrow for all of us here, good night from New York.
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