CNN's Lou Dobbs on Bush Family Dealings with UAE; Dubai Co. Agrees to Delay US Port Take-Over

DOBBS: President Bush's family and members of the Bush administration have long-standing business connections with the United Arab Emirates, and those connections are raising new concerns and questions tonight in some quarters about why the president is defying his very own party leadership and his party in defending the Dubai port deal.

Christine Romans reports.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The oil-rich United Arab Emirates is a major investor in The Carlyle Group, the private equity investment firm where President Bush's father once served as senior adviser and is a who's who of former high-level government officials. Just last year, Dubai International Capital, a government-backed buyout firm, invested in an $8 billion Carlyle fund.

Another family connection, the president's brother, Neil Bush, has reportedly received funding for his educational software company from the UAE investors. A call to his company was not returned.

Then there is the cabinet connection. Treasury Secretary John Snow was chairman of railroad company CSX/. After he left the company for the White House, CSX sold its international port operations to Dubai Ports World for more than a billion dollars.

In Connecticut today, Snow told reporters he had no knowledge of that CSX sale. "I learned of this transaction probably the same way members of the Senate did, by reading about it in the newspapers."

Another administration connection, President Bush chose a Dubai Ports World executive to head the U.S. Maritime Administration. David Sanborn, the former director of Dubai Ports' European and Latin American operations, he was tapped just last month to lead the agency that oversees U.S. port operations."
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After testy Senate Armed Forces Committee briefings today with a Treasury Department underling and the press, on the deal to cede US port control to the United Arab Emirates, C-SPAN hosted a call-in program for Americans to comment on the briefings.

As is normal for C-SPAN call-in programs, separate phone numbers were provided for Republicans, Democrats and Independents. I was astonished during the 30 minutes I listened to the callers....

About 80% were Republicans, and every last one of them was fighting angry at the Bush Admnistration. One Republican senior threatened to switch to the Democratic Party for the first time in his life. Another conservative shouted that the Bush family cares only about money, and not national security. Every single caller, regardless of partisan affiliation, expressed fury at the deal and at George Bush. Many were livid with all Republicans..
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To no one's surprise, it was announced this evening via AP that "A United Arab Emirates company offered Thursday to delay part of its $6.8 billion takeover of most operations at six U.S. ports to give the Bush administration more time to convince skeptical lawmakers the deal poses no security risks.....

Under the offer coordinated with the White House, Dubai Ports World said it will agree not to exercise control or influence the management over U.S. ports pending further talks with the Bush administration and Congress. It did not indicate how long it will wait for these discussions to take place."
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