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America's Voice: Feeling Grounded?

Aired February 04, 2003 - 06:39   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: Has the Columbia tragedy grounded America's aspirations of further space exploration?
Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport joins us live now with more on "America's Voice" and the future of the shuttle program.

Some interesting numbers this morning, Frank.

FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Indeed, Carol. A couple of points we were just discussing -- you were just discussing there.

The American public clearly wants the space shuttle and manned space exploration to continue. This is the question we have asked off and on over the years: Should the space program devolve down to just the unmanned probe, like the Voyager? That's on the left-hand side. Or should it continue to include the manned type missions, like the space shuttle? Well, you see the numbers, 73 percent say indeed both types. Most people, 80 percent say specifically they want the space shuttle continued.

In terms of spending money, however, the American public doesn't want the budget decreased. Again, we've asked this question off and on over the years. I guess the relevant point is on the left-hand side there. Just a quarter of Americans are willing to say, at least right after the space shuttle tragedy even, that they want the space budget increased. Most want it kept the same.

So, there's going to be some battling there as far as American public opinion is concerned if that budget is really going to go up...

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Very interesting. Hey, I want to turn our attention now to Iraq, because Colin Powell is going to present his presentation to the U.N. Security Council tomorrow. How do Americans feel when it comes to Iraq now?

NEWPORT: Well, the Colin Powell presentation is very important not only internationally, but for American public opinion. The public tells us they're going to be watching it carefully. But this is what's very, very interesting, even extraordinary, in our data. We asked Americans, when it comes to your trust in decisions on what's to go on in Iraq, who do you trust more, President Bush or Secretary of State Powell? And look at the numbers there. Powell, who has an 86 percent favorable rating, 18 points higher than Bush's, scores way above Bush in terms of the person that the American public trusts. So, Secretary of State Powell has an incredible legitimacy as he goes into that speech tomorrow. The American public will be watching it very carefully.

Support for Iraq? Well, it's up a little after the State of the Union address. This is the measure that we've tracked for many, many times, Carol. It was down to 52 percent, basic support for military action in Iraq. It had gone up to 58 percent in our poll that we just finished over the weekend.

COSTELLO: Well, it could go up even farther after tomorrow's presentation to the U.N. Security Council. Frank Newport, many thanks to you.

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 February 4, 2003 - 06:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Has the Columbia tragedy grounded America's aspirations of further space exploration?
Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport joins us live now with more on "America's Voice" and the future of the shuttle program.

Some interesting numbers this morning, Frank.

FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Indeed, Carol. A couple of points we were just discussing -- you were just discussing there.

The American public clearly wants the space shuttle and manned space exploration to continue. This is the question we have asked off and on over the years: Should the space program devolve down to just the unmanned probe, like the Voyager? That's on the left-hand side. Or should it continue to include the manned type missions, like the space shuttle? Well, you see the numbers, 73 percent say indeed both types. Most people, 80 percent say specifically they want the space shuttle continued.

In terms of spending money, however, the American public doesn't want the budget decreased. Again, we've asked this question off and on over the years. I guess the relevant point is on the left-hand side there. Just a quarter of Americans are willing to say, at least right after the space shuttle tragedy even, that they want the space budget increased. Most want it kept the same.

So, there's going to be some battling there as far as American public opinion is concerned if that budget is really going to go up...

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Very interesting. Hey, I want to turn our attention now to Iraq, because Colin Powell is going to present his presentation to the U.N. Security Council tomorrow. How do Americans feel when it comes to Iraq now?

NEWPORT: Well, the Colin Powell presentation is very important not only internationally, but for American public opinion. The public tells us they're going to be watching it carefully. But this is what's very, very interesting, even extraordinary, in our data. We asked Americans, when it comes to your trust in decisions on what's to go on in Iraq, who do you trust more, President Bush or Secretary of State Powell? And look at the numbers there. Powell, who has an 86 percent favorable rating, 18 points higher than Bush's, scores way above Bush in terms of the person that the American public trusts. So, Secretary of State Powell has an incredible legitimacy as he goes into that speech tomorrow. The American public will be watching it very carefully.

Support for Iraq? Well, it's up a little after the State of the Union address. This is the measure that we've tracked for many, many times, Carol. It was down to 52 percent, basic support for military action in Iraq. It had gone up to 58 percent in our poll that we just finished over the weekend.

COSTELLO: Well, it could go up even farther after tomorrow's presentation to the U.N. Security Council. Frank Newport, many thanks to you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com