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CNN Live At Daybreak
America's Voice: Economy Woes
Aired January 21, 2003 - 06:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: With the economy in a slump and a possible war with Iraq on the horizon, it's probably fair to say Americans are in a bad mood these days.
Gallup Poll Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport joins us live with the numbers to back that up.
So, are Americans unhappier these days?
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Indeed they are, unfortunately, Carol. We have a measure that's kind of like a right track, wrong track measure. We simply say, and we've been asking this for well over 20 years, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States today?
Now let me just show you for the last year what a difference a year makes. We started out up there near 70 percent in January, of course that was still part of that rally effect that came after 9/11. Things were going well in the war in Afghanistan and what have you. Boy, look how it's fallen this year, down, down, down. And in our most recent reading that we just finished at 42 percent of Americans satisfied. Well below 50 percent, and that's the lowest level, technically, just a point lower, but, nevertheless, the lowest level we've had since 1994. Indeed, Americans are bummed out, no question about it.
COSTELLO: And how much of that dissatisfaction can be blamed on the Iraq situation?
NEWPORT: Well, we think a lot. Of course there's the economy and then there's war. But one thing we've noticed every month we ask this question, what's the most important problem facing the United States today? And what's happened this month is worry about war has now zoomed up to where it's the No. 1 problem based on this open-ended question. Thirty-one percent of Americans spontaneously tell us that's what concerns them more than anything else. Then you can see the economy 26, unemployment 10 percent and terrorism, which used to be No. 1, is now down to just 10 percent specifically...
COSTELLO: Boy, that really surprises me.
Let's talk about something else. Tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision on Roe v. Wade. Where do Americans stand on abortion?
NEWPORT: Well this is the -- and by the way, I wanted to show you this. This is the economy, also very negative ratings right now. That's all part of that same thing, Carol.
Roe versus Wade generally gets an OK from the American public. Americans are ambivalent about abortion, but they don't want it banned. We've seen that in all of our data over the last 30 years. So when we look at this question now, was Roe versus Wade good or bad for America? You can see by 53 to 30 percent Americans now come along saying it was a good thing in general. That doesn't mean Americans want abortion to be totally legalized, they want lots of restrictions on it, but very few Americans relatively want abortion totally unconstitutional and that of course is what Roe said -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It'll be interesting to see what happens as this administration goes on.
Thank you very much, Frank Newport, for giving us those numbers this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 21, 2003 - 06:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: With the economy in a slump and a possible war with Iraq on the horizon, it's probably fair to say Americans are in a bad mood these days.
Gallup Poll Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport joins us live with the numbers to back that up.
So, are Americans unhappier these days?
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Indeed they are, unfortunately, Carol. We have a measure that's kind of like a right track, wrong track measure. We simply say, and we've been asking this for well over 20 years, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States today?
Now let me just show you for the last year what a difference a year makes. We started out up there near 70 percent in January, of course that was still part of that rally effect that came after 9/11. Things were going well in the war in Afghanistan and what have you. Boy, look how it's fallen this year, down, down, down. And in our most recent reading that we just finished at 42 percent of Americans satisfied. Well below 50 percent, and that's the lowest level, technically, just a point lower, but, nevertheless, the lowest level we've had since 1994. Indeed, Americans are bummed out, no question about it.
COSTELLO: And how much of that dissatisfaction can be blamed on the Iraq situation?
NEWPORT: Well, we think a lot. Of course there's the economy and then there's war. But one thing we've noticed every month we ask this question, what's the most important problem facing the United States today? And what's happened this month is worry about war has now zoomed up to where it's the No. 1 problem based on this open-ended question. Thirty-one percent of Americans spontaneously tell us that's what concerns them more than anything else. Then you can see the economy 26, unemployment 10 percent and terrorism, which used to be No. 1, is now down to just 10 percent specifically...
COSTELLO: Boy, that really surprises me.
Let's talk about something else. Tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision on Roe v. Wade. Where do Americans stand on abortion?
NEWPORT: Well this is the -- and by the way, I wanted to show you this. This is the economy, also very negative ratings right now. That's all part of that same thing, Carol.
Roe versus Wade generally gets an OK from the American public. Americans are ambivalent about abortion, but they don't want it banned. We've seen that in all of our data over the last 30 years. So when we look at this question now, was Roe versus Wade good or bad for America? You can see by 53 to 30 percent Americans now come along saying it was a good thing in general. That doesn't mean Americans want abortion to be totally legalized, they want lots of restrictions on it, but very few Americans relatively want abortion totally unconstitutional and that of course is what Roe said -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It'll be interesting to see what happens as this administration goes on.
Thank you very much, Frank Newport, for giving us those numbers this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
