Rift over the War; ACORN Investigation
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you very much. As a matter of fact tonight we'll be debating whether or not health care workers in this country should be forced to take swine flu vaccine and tonight debate over Afghanistan -- a growing rift over a new strategy -- President Obama facing top lawmakers, bipartisan meeting at the White House. He says he understands the urgency for a new plan for war, but can he overcome differences within his own administration. Also tonight, calls for an independent prosecutor to investigate ACORN, the leftist activist group's crimes reportedly much worse than anyone knew and sex, blackmail and extortion, the latest develops tonight in the Letterman, Polanski and Travolta scandals.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT; news, debate and analysis for Tuesday, October 6th. Live from New York, Mr. Independent Lou Dobbs.</s>DOBBS: Good evening, everybody. The growing rift over Afghanistan, the president meeting today with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, he told both sides he understands the urgency to come up with a new war plan. The debate creating high level tension within the president's own administration. The secretary of defense telling his top commander in Afghanistan to keep his concerns private, General Stanley McChrystal angering the White House when he went public with his calls for a big troop surge. Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden is pushing a more narrow mission, focusing on hitting al Qaeda forces. The one option not being considered by the White House, a complete withdrawal, all of this as the president faces key decisions in the coming weeks. Ed Henry reports now from the White House. Ed, you have some new information about what went on behind those closed doors today.</s>ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well that's right. Good evening, Lou. In fact, it had to do with the fact that the president is not talking about withdrawing. I'm told that a top House Democrat advised the president that unless he starts pulling out of Afghanistan, the U.S. could be stuck in that region for the next 20 years in an open-ended conflict, this according to attendees in the room from both parties who tell me that Congressman David Obey (ph), a Democrat and the chairman, powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, warned the president that it could cost at least a trillion dollars over the next 10 years to continue fighting this war if the president escalates the U.S. troop presence. He already sent 21,000 more U.S. troops back in March. He's now weighing whether to send another 40,000 U.S. troops. But these attendees in the room tell me that the president made it clear to Democrats as well as Republicans that pulling out of Afghanistan is not on the table right now, even if it's unpopular with members of his own party, and I can tell you a top Democrat in his party, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid emerged from this meeting saying that while not everyone may be happy with the direction the president may be heading, the possibility of sending more troops that in the end leaders in both parties will support him no matter what.</s>SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: One thing I think was interesting is that everyone, Democrats and Republicans, said whatever decision you make, we'll support it basically. We'll see.</s>HENRY: Now attendees in the room also say that a Republican told the president that the constituents in his Republican district are getting tired of this war eight years later, the anniversary of the start of the war coming later this week, and this Republican lawmaker was saying that even he has grown tired of it and that the American people seem to be losing support for this conflict as well. Nevertheless, the president said he believes the mission needs to continue, Lou.</s>DOBBS: Any discussion in that meeting as far as you know as to why after eight years of combat in Afghanistan, the world's greatest military power, the most advanced military on the planet still has an open outcome to the hostilities?</s>HENRY: Certainly, I heard that there were questions about why it is still going on. And basically, one top Republican, Richard Lugar (ph), was also expressing concern that it's not just in Afghanistan but the possibility of some of this conflict continuing to spread into Pakistan, the fact that Pakistan has nuclear weapons and certainly there are people wondering in both parties why it has dragged on so long, given the stakes here, Lou, the severe consequences that this could really blow up into a much bigger situation, Lou.</s>DOBBS: And the Dalai Lama, President Obama becoming the first president since 1991 to not meet with the Dalai Lama. This -- is this a straightforward pandering to communist China?</s>HENRY: Well I asked Robert Gibbs at the White House briefing today whether or not concerns about upsetting the Chinese government led the president to not meet with the Dalai Lama this week. He insisted that it had nothing to do with it and says that the president will be meeting with the Dalai Lama later this year, but as you know, there are human rights activists who are concerned that the president, back in the presidential campaign made clear that he would meet with the Dalai Lama, but there have been suggestions rejected by this White House, but suggestions that the president is waiting to hold this meeting until after November. The reason being that he's heading -- likely heading to China as well as Singapore and Japan as part of the APEC (ph) economic summit in November where he'll be sitting down with President Hu of China and doesn't want to anger the Chinese ahead of that summit. Robert Gibbs insisted there's no connection, but there's lot of people wondering why the president is delaying this meeting, Lou.</s>DOBBS: All right, Ed, thank you very much -- Ed Henry from the White House. The Obama administration says it's ready to slap new sanctions on Iran if talks over its nuclear program break down. A Treasury Department official telling the Senate Banking Committee today the president remains committed to diplomacy, but is ready to take action if required. The push for new sanctions following Iran's admission that it built a second secret nuclear facility and reports that Iran may be closer to developing a nuclear weapon than originally believed. The world's oil producers are denying reports they have held secret talks to end the use of the dollar in the oil markets. The British newspaper the "Independent" reporting that the Gulf Arab states along with France, Russia, China, and Japan secretly discussed dumping the dollar and replacing it with a market basket of currencies in gold. Iran has already done just that. The dollar is also under pressure and considerable fire from the United Nations. The United Nations next week is going to recommend replacing the dollar as the reserve currency of the world. The dollar fell today, gold prices soared. Gold hitting a record price of $1,045 an ounce. A Senate judiciary subcommittee holding hearings today on all the czars appointed by President Obama and previous administrations, the probe led by Senator Russ Feingold, one of the few Democrats to raise questions about the practice, but the White House says the whole czar discussion is a waste of time. The president's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, was asked about it today.</s>ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I would assume that Congress and Senator Feingold have more weighty topics to grapple with than something like this.</s>DOBBS: He didn't say what those topics might be. There are plenty on the right who disagree, attacking the president for hiring so many high level czars, more than any other president at this point in his administration. Most czars are not vetted or confirmed by the Senate. President Obama's green job czar, Van Jones, recently was forced to resign over some of his past controversial statements and actions. There are now calls for Kevin Jennings, the so-called school safety czar to step down. Jennings admitting to failing to report a sexual matter involving a minor when he was a public school teacher, a homosexual relationship. ACORN's league troubles continuing to mount as well. An investigation of the leftist activist group by the Louisiana attorney general finding that a million dollar embezzlement scheme was actually five times that. The news comes as a member of the House Judiciary Committee is calling for the Justice Department to appoint an independent counsel to investigate ACORN -- Ines Ferre with our report.</s>INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More trouble for ACORN, as part of a criminal investigation into the organization's finances, the Louisiana attorney general says ACORN had underreported a massive embezzlement. A subpoena issued last week says that a board meeting last year, ACORN's CEO Bertha Lewis acknowledged that the amount of money embezzled in 1999 and 2000 by the founder's brother was $5 million -- not one million.</s>JAMES "BUDDY" CALDWELL (D), LOUISIANA ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think the status of these organizations not for profit across the country has elevated to where it requires a lot more strict monitoring. We had too much public money that's going out and is not being monitored.</s>FERRE: ACORN denies that, saying Lewis was asking whether the clean up cost of the scandal might amount to $5 million, and former board members had misrepresented her remarks.</s>BERTHA LEWIS, CEO, ACORN: This is speculation, completely false, and not based on any documentation or any audit or anything other than two disgruntled former board members.</s>FERRE: Criticism of ACORN has grown after recent videos showed workers giving questionable, if not illegal advice to undercover activists posing as a pimp and prostitute. The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to oversee the Justice Department's investigation of</s>ACORN. REP. LAMAR SMITH (R), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: There are all kinds of ties between the president and ACORN., and in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety or the temptation for the Department of Justice to politicize it and say no don't investigate, we need to have this independent special counsel that can go in, conduct an entire and complete investigation.</s>FERRE: A spokesman for the Justice Department said they would review the letter. The Justice Department's inspector general said it will investigate if ACORN. received or misused any grant funds.</s>FERRE: And ACORN is being investigated in at least 10 states for various issues including voter registration fraud. Congress recently voted to cut its funding and the IRS dropped ACORN from its volunteer tax assistance program. At the National Press Club today, Bertha Lewis said ACORN had been demonized saying quote, "this form of modern day ACORN McCarthyism has got to stop" -- Lou.</s>DOBBS: I'm sorry. Who said that...</s>FERRE: Bertha Lewis said...</s>DOBBS: Bertha Lewis, the CEO of the organization.</s>FERRE: Yes -- yes.</s>DOBBS: And she's also the one who denied that there were investigations of ACORN., correct?</s>FERRE: Right.</s>DOBBS: OK. Thank you very much. It will be interesting to see whether or not the Justice Department makes a decision here -- with this many states already investigating and for the federal government which has been providing an estimated, what 45 percent of their funding not to be investigating through the FBI and the Justice Department is truly remarkable, isn't it. All right, thanks a lot. Well local police across the country are being used to enforce immigration laws. Now, the Obama administration wants to weaken and weaken seriously that program. The question is why. And more details tonight about David Letterman's creepy behavior, also the latest developments in the Roman Polanski and John Travolta cases. Also an alarming new report tonight some of the healthiest foods that you eat may actually be the riskiest. We'll be right back.