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CNN Live At Daybreak
America's Voice: Choice for President
Aired January 13, 2004 - 06:35 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: More on politics for you now. Just how do the presidential candidates stack up at this point in time? A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll gives us a glimpse into America's choice. New numbers for you this morning.
Our Gallup Poll editor-in-chief, Frank Newport, joins us live from Princeton, New Jersey.
Good morning, Frank. What's first up?
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
A lot of focus is in Iowa now, but remember, that's only a very, very small fraction of Democratic voters that will be voting in Iowa. What we're really interested in: Will the results in Iowa affect Democrats around the country, as they move towards their primary?
Here's the latest around the country, Democrats nationally. It's Dean still in the lead. Wesley Clark has really moved into a second place position. He had that in our last poll last week. He's still there -- now about a six point margin between them. Notice everybody else there is in single digits.
Gephardt is down there at 7 percent. He's expected to do well in Iowa next to his home state of Missouri. Will that move him up nationally? That's what we'll have to track.
By the way, we did ask Democrats: If you couldn't vote for your leading candidate, who would be your second choice? And, Carol, what I've showed you here is the combination of first and second choices. And look at that. It's Dean, 45 percent first and second, and Clark really comes in second there. So, it's really, to some degree nationally, down to more like a two-man race, at least at this point -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Very interesting. I wanted to ask you, too, about President Bush is going to come out tomorrow and talk about manned missions to the moon. Will Americans embrace that?
NEWPORT: It's all about the money. If you just ask Americans: Should we send people back to the moon again? Yes, 54 percent. Not a huge majority, but at least a majority. But then, if we remind them, like Carl Sagin (ph), the late astronomer from Cornell, used to say, should we spend billions and billions on doing it, which is how we phrased this question, look at that, Carol: two-thirds say no.
So, it's really a question of arguing about: Is that the best place to use the money in the congressional budget?
COSTELLO: Very interesting. We've been getting so many e-mails about this topic -- of course, President Bush's new immigration plan. How do most Americans feel about that?
NEWPORT: Well, right now, our data are showing that Americans feel that immigrants are bad -- illegal immigrants are bad for the U.S. economy, and therefore when we and some other polls say, do you favor or oppose Bush's plan to let illegal immigrants stay in the country, at least for a few years, 55 percent say no. So, it's going to be a hard sell, based at least on public opinion, from what we're able to measure -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And what would a newscast be without mention of Brittney Spears?
NEWPORT: Well, this is surprising. She's a, you know, wonderful singer, has entertained a lot of people. But, boy, after that Las Vegas escapade, we went out and said to the American people, what's your opinion of Brittney Spears? Look at that -- 66 percent unfavorable. She needs to do something quick, pull in the PR people to resurrect her image.
A couple of other personalities in the news. Martha Stewart, about to be on trial in New York, still an unfavorable image. And Pete Rose, one of the great baseball players of all time, really in trouble with his gambling. He also has an unfavorable image.
Sorry, Carol. Every personality we're showing you here, unfortunately, has an unfavorable image in the eyes of the public, at least at this point.
COSTELLO: Very interesting. Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey.
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 13, 2004 - 06:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: More on politics for you now. Just how do the presidential candidates stack up at this point in time? A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll gives us a glimpse into America's choice. New numbers for you this morning.
Our Gallup Poll editor-in-chief, Frank Newport, joins us live from Princeton, New Jersey.
Good morning, Frank. What's first up?
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
A lot of focus is in Iowa now, but remember, that's only a very, very small fraction of Democratic voters that will be voting in Iowa. What we're really interested in: Will the results in Iowa affect Democrats around the country, as they move towards their primary?
Here's the latest around the country, Democrats nationally. It's Dean still in the lead. Wesley Clark has really moved into a second place position. He had that in our last poll last week. He's still there -- now about a six point margin between them. Notice everybody else there is in single digits.
Gephardt is down there at 7 percent. He's expected to do well in Iowa next to his home state of Missouri. Will that move him up nationally? That's what we'll have to track.
By the way, we did ask Democrats: If you couldn't vote for your leading candidate, who would be your second choice? And, Carol, what I've showed you here is the combination of first and second choices. And look at that. It's Dean, 45 percent first and second, and Clark really comes in second there. So, it's really, to some degree nationally, down to more like a two-man race, at least at this point -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Very interesting. I wanted to ask you, too, about President Bush is going to come out tomorrow and talk about manned missions to the moon. Will Americans embrace that?
NEWPORT: It's all about the money. If you just ask Americans: Should we send people back to the moon again? Yes, 54 percent. Not a huge majority, but at least a majority. But then, if we remind them, like Carl Sagin (ph), the late astronomer from Cornell, used to say, should we spend billions and billions on doing it, which is how we phrased this question, look at that, Carol: two-thirds say no.
So, it's really a question of arguing about: Is that the best place to use the money in the congressional budget?
COSTELLO: Very interesting. We've been getting so many e-mails about this topic -- of course, President Bush's new immigration plan. How do most Americans feel about that?
NEWPORT: Well, right now, our data are showing that Americans feel that immigrants are bad -- illegal immigrants are bad for the U.S. economy, and therefore when we and some other polls say, do you favor or oppose Bush's plan to let illegal immigrants stay in the country, at least for a few years, 55 percent say no. So, it's going to be a hard sell, based at least on public opinion, from what we're able to measure -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And what would a newscast be without mention of Brittney Spears?
NEWPORT: Well, this is surprising. She's a, you know, wonderful singer, has entertained a lot of people. But, boy, after that Las Vegas escapade, we went out and said to the American people, what's your opinion of Brittney Spears? Look at that -- 66 percent unfavorable. She needs to do something quick, pull in the PR people to resurrect her image.
A couple of other personalities in the news. Martha Stewart, about to be on trial in New York, still an unfavorable image. And Pete Rose, one of the great baseball players of all time, really in trouble with his gambling. He also has an unfavorable image.
Sorry, Carol. Every personality we're showing you here, unfortunately, has an unfavorable image in the eyes of the public, at least at this point.
COSTELLO: Very interesting. Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
