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CNN Live At Daybreak
America's Voice
Aired December 16, 2003 - 06:34 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: Now to the United States and some of our bigger stories, including what Americans think of the economy and Michael Jackson.
Joining me live from Princeton, New Jersey, Gallup Poll editor- in-chief Frank Newport.
Good morning, Frank. Let's talk about the economy first, OK?
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: All right, economy, Michael Jackson -- quite a combination and perhaps they're related. He generates a lot of revenue, of course.
But the economy is good. That's the news from the American public. Every month we update our indicators of what consumers are thinking.
Rate the current economy. You can see this is the path that everyone likes to see. Up to 38 percent of Americans saying it's excellent or good.
And, Carol, look at this. This is the key indicator. Is the economy getting better or is it getting worse? Now, you couldn't see a more dramatic change than we've seen here. As I've grafted from September to right now, notice the red line is the getting worse line. It was at 50 percent. Getting better was at 40 -- in other words, more negative.
But look at how the negative has gone down, the positive is up. We're now at 60 percent of Americans -- thats this number over here -- who say the economy is getting better, and that's the most optimistic that we have seen Americans going all the way back to August of 2000, if you take a look at the economic boom. So, it's good news from Americans' vies of how the economy is going -- Carol.
COSTELLO: We haven't talked much about Colin Powell this morning, but he is recovering. He's in Walter Reed Medical Center recovering from surgery, after they discovered he had prostate cancer. I know you did some numbers on Colin Powell, because -- I mean, he is one of the most admired members of the administration. Is he still, Frank?
NEWPORT: Indeed he is. Colin Powell in all of our surveys over the years has been one of the most admired men that we come up with at Gallup. In fact, of any living political figure, I would say Colin Powell has more favorable ratings than any. Here are our latest numbers from this summer: 83 percent favorable rating of Powell, just 13 unfavorable. That's unprecedented for a politician. He's in a Republican administration, so usually you'd have Democrats who are negative. Not for Powell. He's universally revered by all Americans it looks like, regardless of their political persuasion.
COSTELLO: Fascinating. You know, we're waiting for formal charges sometime this week in the Michael Jackson case. So, what does the public think of him now?
NEWPORT: Well, unfavorable ratings of Michael Jackson, no question about that.
We asked the question: Just based on what you know, would you say the charges are probably true or probably not true? About 54 percent of all Americans say probably true. A racial divide here, exactly the same thing we found for O.J. Simpson. In fact, that's the same question. White Americans, 62 percent say the charges are probably true, their best guess. But look at African-Americans, 64 percent say not true. It's a total mirror image. So, we're getting that same race effect here that we found with O.J. Simpson -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That is so interesting, because of all of the past controversy over Michael Jackson bleaching his skin and not being involved enough in the black community. But I guess the numbers tell the story.
NEWPORT: That's right. The favorable opinion of Michael Jackson, the same way: a majority of blacks, favorable opinion, a majority of whites, unfavorable opinion of Jacko, the entertainer.
COSTELLO: All right, Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey. We appreciate it.
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 December 16, 2003 - 06:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the United States and some of our bigger stories, including what Americans think of the economy and Michael Jackson.
Joining me live from Princeton, New Jersey, Gallup Poll editor- in-chief Frank Newport.
Good morning, Frank. Let's talk about the economy first, OK?
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: All right, economy, Michael Jackson -- quite a combination and perhaps they're related. He generates a lot of revenue, of course.
But the economy is good. That's the news from the American public. Every month we update our indicators of what consumers are thinking.
Rate the current economy. You can see this is the path that everyone likes to see. Up to 38 percent of Americans saying it's excellent or good.
And, Carol, look at this. This is the key indicator. Is the economy getting better or is it getting worse? Now, you couldn't see a more dramatic change than we've seen here. As I've grafted from September to right now, notice the red line is the getting worse line. It was at 50 percent. Getting better was at 40 -- in other words, more negative.
But look at how the negative has gone down, the positive is up. We're now at 60 percent of Americans -- thats this number over here -- who say the economy is getting better, and that's the most optimistic that we have seen Americans going all the way back to August of 2000, if you take a look at the economic boom. So, it's good news from Americans' vies of how the economy is going -- Carol.
COSTELLO: We haven't talked much about Colin Powell this morning, but he is recovering. He's in Walter Reed Medical Center recovering from surgery, after they discovered he had prostate cancer. I know you did some numbers on Colin Powell, because -- I mean, he is one of the most admired members of the administration. Is he still, Frank?
NEWPORT: Indeed he is. Colin Powell in all of our surveys over the years has been one of the most admired men that we come up with at Gallup. In fact, of any living political figure, I would say Colin Powell has more favorable ratings than any. Here are our latest numbers from this summer: 83 percent favorable rating of Powell, just 13 unfavorable. That's unprecedented for a politician. He's in a Republican administration, so usually you'd have Democrats who are negative. Not for Powell. He's universally revered by all Americans it looks like, regardless of their political persuasion.
COSTELLO: Fascinating. You know, we're waiting for formal charges sometime this week in the Michael Jackson case. So, what does the public think of him now?
NEWPORT: Well, unfavorable ratings of Michael Jackson, no question about that.
We asked the question: Just based on what you know, would you say the charges are probably true or probably not true? About 54 percent of all Americans say probably true. A racial divide here, exactly the same thing we found for O.J. Simpson. In fact, that's the same question. White Americans, 62 percent say the charges are probably true, their best guess. But look at African-Americans, 64 percent say not true. It's a total mirror image. So, we're getting that same race effect here that we found with O.J. Simpson -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That is so interesting, because of all of the past controversy over Michael Jackson bleaching his skin and not being involved enough in the black community. But I guess the numbers tell the story.
NEWPORT: That's right. The favorable opinion of Michael Jackson, the same way: a majority of blacks, favorable opinion, a majority of whites, unfavorable opinion of Jacko, the entertainer.
COSTELLO: All right, Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey. We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
