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CNN Live At Daybreak
President Bush in Senegal
Aired July 08, 2003 - 06:52 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.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Africa, of course, is on the agenda this morning. President Bush is in Senegal right now. It is the first of his five day trip to Africa. The question -- do Americans care?
Now, Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport joins us live this morning.
And viewers likely know Frank often has a very detailed analysis and look at all the numbers.
So, Frank, good morning to you.
And just how concerned are Americans about what's happening in Africa right now?
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Well, Kris, it's an excellent question. We pollsters have not been very concerned. We had to search through our archives to say when's the last time we actually asked about Africa. And we really found it's been several years ago. At that point we said to Americans, here's several of the continents and regions of the world, how important are they to the U.S.?
And guess what? Africa was dead last. This was several years ago. You see the Middle East was 53. If you look way down there at the bottom, here comes Africa, only 18 percent of Americans at that time, several years ago, said that Africa was vitally important.
A lot of people now say it is much more important than that. Maybe the trip of the president's going to change things. We'll be re-asking this question after the trip, Kris. We'll see if perhaps Americans have elevated their perceptions of how important the continent is.
OSBORN: Well, shifting gears, Congress, of course, gets back to work this week.
What do Americans think about the job they're doing, the Republican Congress, right?
NEWPORT: Well, it's mixed. Remember, Bush's job approval rating is in the 60 percent range, the lower 60s. Congress just barely at 50 percent. It's kind of been up and down this year. In April -- that was in the middle of the Iraq war -- Congress was a little higher, but now it's straight at 50 percent approval. It couldn't be more evenly split than that. It's very partisan. Republicans much more positive than Democrats.
One of the things, Kris, they'll be pondering in Congress, trying to reconcile differences between the House and the Senate, is prescription drugs. If it's passed, will it go far enough? Will it do enough?
Well, here's maybe one reason why Americans are a little cynical about Congress. No matter what the age group, that tall bar across there is the percent who say no, any prescription drug bill that is passed won't go far enough in helping to defray costs of those expensive drugs for Americans.
OSBORN: And, Frank, what do Americans think about Iran? Do they believe it might be the next Iraq?
NEWPORT: Indeed, they do. Front page news today, Iran says that they have a missile which could go as far as to hit Israel, and American forces in the region, perhaps. We asked just recently, "Iran, developing weapons of mass destruction?" Forty-six percent say it's very likely. "Are they helping terrorists?" Well over half of Americans say yes to that.
However, Kris, at this point support for any kind of military action against Iran is very low, just in the 20 percent range on the part of Americans.
OSBORN: Thank you very much, Frank Newport, with a break down of the numbers as described.
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 July 8, 2003 - 06:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Africa, of course, is on the agenda this morning. President Bush is in Senegal right now. It is the first of his five day trip to Africa. The question -- do Americans care?
Now, Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport joins us live this morning.
And viewers likely know Frank often has a very detailed analysis and look at all the numbers.
So, Frank, good morning to you.
And just how concerned are Americans about what's happening in Africa right now?
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Well, Kris, it's an excellent question. We pollsters have not been very concerned. We had to search through our archives to say when's the last time we actually asked about Africa. And we really found it's been several years ago. At that point we said to Americans, here's several of the continents and regions of the world, how important are they to the U.S.?
And guess what? Africa was dead last. This was several years ago. You see the Middle East was 53. If you look way down there at the bottom, here comes Africa, only 18 percent of Americans at that time, several years ago, said that Africa was vitally important.
A lot of people now say it is much more important than that. Maybe the trip of the president's going to change things. We'll be re-asking this question after the trip, Kris. We'll see if perhaps Americans have elevated their perceptions of how important the continent is.
OSBORN: Well, shifting gears, Congress, of course, gets back to work this week.
What do Americans think about the job they're doing, the Republican Congress, right?
NEWPORT: Well, it's mixed. Remember, Bush's job approval rating is in the 60 percent range, the lower 60s. Congress just barely at 50 percent. It's kind of been up and down this year. In April -- that was in the middle of the Iraq war -- Congress was a little higher, but now it's straight at 50 percent approval. It couldn't be more evenly split than that. It's very partisan. Republicans much more positive than Democrats.
One of the things, Kris, they'll be pondering in Congress, trying to reconcile differences between the House and the Senate, is prescription drugs. If it's passed, will it go far enough? Will it do enough?
Well, here's maybe one reason why Americans are a little cynical about Congress. No matter what the age group, that tall bar across there is the percent who say no, any prescription drug bill that is passed won't go far enough in helping to defray costs of those expensive drugs for Americans.
OSBORN: And, Frank, what do Americans think about Iran? Do they believe it might be the next Iraq?
NEWPORT: Indeed, they do. Front page news today, Iran says that they have a missile which could go as far as to hit Israel, and American forces in the region, perhaps. We asked just recently, "Iran, developing weapons of mass destruction?" Forty-six percent say it's very likely. "Are they helping terrorists?" Well over half of Americans say yes to that.
However, Kris, at this point support for any kind of military action against Iran is very low, just in the 20 percent range on the part of Americans.
OSBORN: Thank you very much, Frank Newport, with a break down of the numbers as described.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
