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CNN Live At Daybreak

AIDS Epidemic Puts Children on Brink; America's Voice; Today's Talker

Aired July 13, 2004 - 06:30   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.


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: In an epidemic that affects millions, their suffering can break your heart. And this morning, we're learning just how devastating AIDS is to these orphans.
It is Tuesday, July 13, and this is DAYBREAK.

Well, good morning to you from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.

Now in the news, just moments after a government official said the Philippines would withdraw its 50 troops from Iraq -- quoting here -- "as soon as possible," abductors holding a Filipino truck driver hostage said they set him free today.

Marine Corporal Wassef Hassoun tells his debriefing team in Germany that he was abducted from his highly-secure base near Fallujah last month. Military sources tell CNN he hasn't given an explanation yet about how he traveled from Iraq to Lebanon, where he was found earlier this month.

One of the world's top diamond companies, DeBeers, is expected to plead guilty today to a 10-year-old price-fixing charge. The move will allow the South African-based company to resume business in the U.S. after nearly 60 years. Right now, it sells diamonds through intermediaries.

Three and a half hours from now, a group of senators opens a hearing on the abuse of steroids by athletes. A college football player from a Division I school is expected to testify. He will wear a hood to disguise his identity.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(WEATHER BREAK)

NGUYEN: And now to the issue of AIDS and its devastating impact on families. Fifteen million children are now orphans because of the AIDS epidemic, and a U.N. report is indicating the problem could become even worse in Asia than it is right now in Africa.

Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us from the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok with the latest.

Good morning -- Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening from Bangkok, Betty.

Listen, we talk a lot about the numbers. The numbers are high, no doubt. Millions of lives lost, millions of lives changed. But behind all of those numbers there are stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice over): As with most wars, there are innocent bystanders. In the war of AIDS, which has claimed 20 million lives, it has also robbed 15 million children of one or both parents, like these three boys, age 12, 7 and 5, from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Within a span of two years, they first lost their father and then their mother to AIDS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I feel sorry because I don't have anyone to support my family.

GUPTA: And as if losing their parents weren't enough, for most orphans the situation goes from bad to worse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The status of these children as outcasts make them easy targets for violence, for exploitation, child labor, exclusion from school, gender-based discrimination.

GUPTA: These boys are more fortunate than most. A local community program has taken them in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and give us rights, school material and school uniforms.

GUPTA (on camera): Programs like this one are being touted here at the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, with the full recognition that while they're good, they're simply not enough.

ANN PETERSON, UNAID: The news today is that the global effort is only reaching a small fraction of those in need.

GUPTA (voice over): And the number of those orphans in need will likely grow to nearly 20 million by the end of this decade.

But behind all of those numbers are the stories, like the one of these three boys. They are orphans due to AIDS.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Well, a lot of people believe that the stories of orphans, the stories like the one you just heard, are, in fact, orphans stories themselves here. A lot of the international AIDS conferences talk about the search for a vaccine. We talk about the activism. The orphans are a side story that probably deserves more attention -- Betty.

NGUYEN: A heartbreaking story. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much.

And for more information about the AIDS conference Dr. Gupta is attending or to e-mail him with your questions about AIDS and HIV, all you have to do is visit CNN.com/Health.

Here are some stories making news across America this Tuesday.

The FBI has joined the search for a serial shooter in New Haven, Connecticut. Police say the same gun was used in five shootings that took place over the past two days. Two of the victims were shot seven times. No one has been killed in those attacks.

Several wildfires are working their way through Southern California. The Ravina (ph) fire near Palm Springs has burned about 5,000 acres. Fighting the fires has become more hazardous due to triple-digit temperatures in the area. Thousands of acres have also been destroyed in the San Bernardino and Angeles National Forest.

There is a tiger on the loose in Palm Beach County, Florida. Officials plan to resume their search this morning. Yes, you thought we were kidding, didn't you? Well, the 6-year-old tiger escaped from the home of actor Steven Sipek. He's better known as Steve Hawkes when he played Tarzan in several movies back the 1960s.

The addition of John Edwards to the Democratic ticket was supposed to energize voters. But has it given the Democrats the bump they expected?

Well, joining me now to look inside the numbers is Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport.

Good morning to you.

Has it made much of a difference to voters?

FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Well, the word is that the bounce that everybody looks for, I would say it's a mini- bounce at best associated with the selection of John Edwards by John Kerry.

Remember, there's a lot else that's going on that could affect how people, voters tell us they're going to vote in the election. There's the economy and Iraq and what have you. But in terms of the presidential race itself, it's now 50 percent for the Kerry-Edwards ticket and 46 percent for the Bush-Cheney ticket. That's on the right side.

It is a slight improvement from our CNN/"USA Today" poll in late June. But if you look back to early June, you see that Kerry had a lead over Bush then of about 6 points. So, the current 4-point lead really isn't anything exceptional when you look at the big picture. So, a slight intermediary bump, but we're really probably not going to see a major move-up until the convention when a candidate typically has a 5 to 7-point increase in their standing in the polls. That's later this month, of course.

We did do, interestingly, Betty, a poll in North Carolina to see if maybe the addition of John Edwards, the senator from that state, helped in that state. But look at North Carolina voters. These are likely voters, more Republican than the general register voter pool there. About a 15-point margin for Bush over Kerry. Bush won by 13 points in 2000. So, no change in North Carolina yet coincident with the selection of John Edwards -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Frank, how has President Bush's refusal to speak at the NAACP convention hurting him among African-American voters?

NEWPORT: Well, he's not speaking there, but it's unlikely he was going to make any major gains in the black community anyhow. Look at the numbers from our annual Gallup update on racial attitudes in this country we just finished a week or so ago. Seventy-nine percent of blacks in June said they disapprove of Bush's job performance. We asked who would you vote for, Kerry or Bush? Overwhelmingly, 81 to 12, Kerry over Bush. So, it's unlikely any Republican president is going to do well in that constituency.

NGUYEN: The Senate is preparing to vote on the same-sex marriage amendment, as we well know. Do Americans support the change, or do they not?

NEWPORT: Well, it's interesting. There is a slight majority -- precisely, 51 percent of Americans in our last update -- who said, yes, they support the amendment, which would restrict marriage to only a man and a woman. You see the numbers there. That is a slight majority support.

But, Betty, as you know, it takes two-thirds and three-quarters of the legislators in the Congress and the Senate to pass a constitutional amendment. So, there is nowhere near that kind of super-majority support at this point -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Frank, thank you for sorting out all of the numbers this morning.

Well, we are staying on the campaign trail for "Today's Talker." With less than four months to go, who could get a financial boost soon? And would it really help?

Plus, roll out the hay, pick up your saws. These are serious Olympians down on the farm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Campaign spending is our topic in this morning's "Talker" segment. And joining me are liberal radio talk show host Mike Malloy and conservative radio talk show host Martha Zoller.

Welcome you both to the show. Thanks for being here.

MIKE MALLOY, LIBERAL TALK SHOW HOST: Hey, Betty. Good morning.

MARTHA ZOLLER, CONSERVATIVE TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.

NGUYEN: Well, first off, let's talk about the campaign money. Should the Kerry camp take the $75 million?

Let's start with you, Mr. Malloy. MALLOY: If it's there to be taken, why not? Curiously, these questions are usually directed towards the Democratic nominees, whether they're running for federal office or state office. A quick answer, yes, absolutely.

NGUYEN: What do you think about it, Ms. Zoller?

ZOLLER: Well, you know, I would take the money, too. I mean, this is something Mike and I agree on. You know, to have the $75 million matching funds, to know that you'll get it, is better than banking on, so to speak, whether you're going to raise money late in the game, which is really where the money crunch happens is late in the game. The problem is not what he's got on hand right now. It will be in the future. But I would take it if it was available.

NGUYEN: But how much of a disadvantage is he, since the Democratic Convention comes earlier than the Republican one, which means he's got to spend that money at least a month earlier before the Republicans do? Let's start with you, Mr. Malloy.

MALLOY: Well, yes, I think whoever planned the Democratic Convention, the timing of the Democratic Convention might not have taken that into consideration. Given the scheduling, this crunch time between the convention and the election itself, there's not a whole lot of time available for these guys to make their case. And I do think the Democrats may have made a tactical error in scheduling their convention in July.

NGUYEN: Martha, obviously an advantage for President Bush?

ZOLLER: Well, it's an advantage. And the incumbent always has the advantage. The incumbent gets the later primary. That's been tradition. So, they have the advantage there. But, again, I agree with Mike. This is not going to be too cantankerous this morning, Mike. But I agree with him that they gave a little bit too much time. And I think they even had planned it earlier than that initially and had moved it back a couple of weeks. So, I would have gone into August. I don't think people are still thinking about conventions in July. I have to -- and I follow this every day, and I have to keep reminding myself what day it starts. And I think that that's a difficult thing.

But, you know, all of these things really don't matter. Most of the people are going to make their minds up in September and October, and that doesn't change whether, you know, a Republican is in office or a Democrat.

NGUYEN: And, you know, a lot of that does focus on these campaign ads, because people really take that into account. And these ads, when we talk about them, when Edwards was rolled out by Kerry, the Bush camp quickly started an ad with John McCain, saying that, you know, he was Edwards' -- or Kerry's first pick. Are these ads starting to get nasty? Is this high time to see that kind of a season in this campaign, Mike?

MALLOY: Well, Betty, in the first place, I've said many times on the air, if I were king of America, I would banish all electronic political ads, whether they are radio or television, because they are highly misleading. They lead an electorate away from an informed choice and into a decision-making process that we usually use when we decide on hemorrhoid cream or toothpaste. And it's a terrible situation.

As far as Edwards himself adding to or detracting or from the Kerry ticket, I've said before, John Kerry has to win this on his own. John Edwards may enhance the ticket. He may be injecting a certain kind of vitality that Mr. Kerry -- or Senator Kerry seems to be lacking. But this is John Kerry's contest to win or lose on the merits of how he would be president of the United States. I think Edwards can add, too. But he's not the reason that Kerry will win this election.

ZOLLER: Well, in a Bush -- a very tough spring season for the campaign because of political things that have happened, because of things that have happened in the world. The one thing that they did better than anything else was defining Kerry for the American people, and he has been having to recover from that. And that's what they're trying to do here with John Edwards. They want to be the one to define John Edwards, not John Edwards.

And I think the Democrats should have had really a policy in place, a procedure in place, on how they were going to deal with this. They saw what they did, what the Republicans did very effectively to John Kerry in defining him. They knew they were going to try to do the same thing for Edwards, and they really didn't have a plan for it.

MALLOY: Well, this is the reason that I was mentioning, Betty, that I would eliminate, ban, all electronic advertising is what Martha just said, for one campaign to define -- mis-define the other campaign's candidate. And I think the Republicans are more adept at this than Democrats, because I think Republicans are inherently evil to begin with.

NGUYEN: Well, we're going to...

ZOLLER: Oh, but they had so much to work with, with John Kerry, so many voting for things and then voting against things, and he had a long career in the Senate.

MALLOY: Well, I -- yes.

ZOLLER: But they had so much to work with, with John Kerry. And Republicans and conservatives are not evil, Mike, and you know that.

NGUYEN: Unfortunately, we're going to have to leave it there. We are absolutely out of time. But we thank you both for your insight.

MALLOY: You bet.

ZOLLER: Thanks.

NGUYEN: Mike Malloy and Martha Zoller, thank you. Well, your news, money, weather and sports. The time right now is 6:47 Eastern. And here's what's new.

A U.S. soldier on patrol in Baghdad was injured today. Someone threw a hand grenade at his vehicle. Also today, a top official in Iraq's Ministry of Industry and Minerals was shot and killed outside his home.

The power is slowly being restored across southern Greece, after the country's worst blackout in a decade. The Olympic Games start in Athens in exactly one month, but officials say the capital city was only in the dark for about 40 minutes.

In money, looking for a way to get rid of that old computer? Well, Home Depot and Hewlett-Packard, they are ready to take it off your hands. They're expected to announce a free computer recycling program today.

In culture, the controversial German National Holocaust Memorial is one step closer to completion. Backers marked the halfway point of the construction. The memorial is scheduled to open in May of next year.

And in sports, at the Olympic trials Marion Jones advances in the long jump but just barely. She finished seventh, qualifying for Thursday's final. Jones won bronze in the event back in the 2000 Olympics.

(WEATHER BREAK)

NGUYEN: Still to come on DAYBREAK, one couple's affection pays off. Hear about their command kissing performance.

And, the shirts that bring all new meaning to the phrase, "tube top."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Whatever. Chad, you'll want to check this out, because our Wolf Blitzer stopped to visit "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," and, you know, it's going to be hilarious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You like that crawl at the bottom? Do you like that?

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": I love the crawl. I love the fact that the crawl has nothing to do with what's going on, on the TV.

BLITZER: No.

STEWART: It confuses me. My favorite one?

BLITZER: Yes.

STEWART: The bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussein were being displayed, and underneath it on the crawl it said, "Beyonce doesn't like the word, bootylicious."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Bootylicious -- it's something we don't talk about a lot on this show, except for in the crawl, of course.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You don't think of Wolf as being a funny guy, but he actually really is.

NGUYEN: Yes, he is.

MYERS: So, he was good yesterday with Jon Stewart.

NGUYEN: Well, do you turn heads when you wear little cute T- shirts? Chad does. There is a T-shirt that's sure to make people watch, and it turns chests into flat screens.

Our Jeanne Moos has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Please stay tuned for T-shirt TV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What in heaven's name?

MOOS: An 11-inch screen, four built-in speakers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that is awesome!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like I shouldn't be looking at their chest!

MOOS: That's not what guys say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You kill two birds with one stone, you know. Get to watch a movie and a get a thrill at the same time.

MOOS: Must-see TV, but must not touch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the on and off switch!

MOOS: Just like with any TV, you can do it manually or with a remote. But only creator Adam Hollander of Brand Marketers is allowed to fine-tune the T-shirts. The models are used to the jokes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, the boob tube.

MOOS: And then there's the line actor Tom Hanks used when he crossed paths with a T-shirt TV-wearing model.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, you're very attractive for a flat- chested girl.

MOOS: Right now, T-shirt TV is being used to promote the movie, "I, Robot." It plays digitized media, and it played a live feed from a video camera shooting us.

ADAM HOLLANDER, BRAND MARKETERS: Every time we wear it out, people ask, "Where can I buy it?" They offer us money for it.

MOOS: This is no $10 T-shirt. Until the technology gets cheaper, a T-shirt TV would run several thousand dollars.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does it hurt to wear that?

MOOS: No, the models say it feels like a push-up bra, though even the pushiest bra doesn't weigh seven pounds and take 10 minutes to put on.

MOOS (on camera): I mean, this really is, it's a Teletubby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is.

MOOS: Well, Teleboobies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Teleboobies, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened to cleavage?

MOOS: Cleavage is out.

(voice-over): This is a set men can't resist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Better than boobs!

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Better than boobs.

MYERS: Yes.

NGUYEN: Leave it to a man to say that.

MYERS: I can't believe you just said that. Really. I can't believe she let that...

NGUYEN: Oh, teleboobies.

MYERS: Yes, there you go.

NGUYEN: There you go.

MYERS: Anyway, hey, it's time to give way the mug that we don't have.

NGUYEN: It's not here. MYERS: But I guarantee you we'll have one for you. The one that we asked yesterday, what's the average credit card balance of the average U.S. household? The average is $8,000. It's like the national debt. And our DAYBREAK "Photo of the Day" showed participants in an iron man triathlon in what country. And that country was Germany. Remember all of those arms in the air flying away and legs in the air?

And the winner, from Jackson, New Jersey, Casey Oakes this morning gets our DAYBREAK coffee mug.

And now for the question of the day -- questions of the day. You have to answer them both, by the way. Women make up what percentage of the Iraqi population? And in a weekend Gallup Poll of voters in North Carolina, which presidential candidate leads the race? Which candidate in North Carolina? You would think that would be easy. But, in fact, it's not.

NGUYEN: I know the answers. Do I get a mug?

MYERS: Daybreak@CNN.com. No, you have to earn it. That's your second...

NGUYEN: But I know the answers.

MYERS: That's your second contract.

NGUYEN: OK, all right, we'll work on that that.

We're back after a quick break, but first here's a look at the headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: (AUDIO GAP) new meaning to pucker up and win. A couple from Miami locked lips under water for a minute and six seconds. Well, a big smooch there, and that was enough to win the second world kissing day game in Italy. Check it out.

Well, that's going to do it for us here at the global headquarters in Atlanta. It's on now to "AMERICAN MORNING." Thanks for joining us.

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 13, 2004 - 06:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: In an epidemic that affects millions, their suffering can break your heart. And this morning, we're learning just how devastating AIDS is to these orphans.
It is Tuesday, July 13, and this is DAYBREAK.

Well, good morning to you from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.

Now in the news, just moments after a government official said the Philippines would withdraw its 50 troops from Iraq -- quoting here -- "as soon as possible," abductors holding a Filipino truck driver hostage said they set him free today.

Marine Corporal Wassef Hassoun tells his debriefing team in Germany that he was abducted from his highly-secure base near Fallujah last month. Military sources tell CNN he hasn't given an explanation yet about how he traveled from Iraq to Lebanon, where he was found earlier this month.

One of the world's top diamond companies, DeBeers, is expected to plead guilty today to a 10-year-old price-fixing charge. The move will allow the South African-based company to resume business in the U.S. after nearly 60 years. Right now, it sells diamonds through intermediaries.

Three and a half hours from now, a group of senators opens a hearing on the abuse of steroids by athletes. A college football player from a Division I school is expected to testify. He will wear a hood to disguise his identity.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(WEATHER BREAK)

NGUYEN: And now to the issue of AIDS and its devastating impact on families. Fifteen million children are now orphans because of the AIDS epidemic, and a U.N. report is indicating the problem could become even worse in Asia than it is right now in Africa.

Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us from the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok with the latest.

Good morning -- Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening from Bangkok, Betty.

Listen, we talk a lot about the numbers. The numbers are high, no doubt. Millions of lives lost, millions of lives changed. But behind all of those numbers there are stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice over): As with most wars, there are innocent bystanders. In the war of AIDS, which has claimed 20 million lives, it has also robbed 15 million children of one or both parents, like these three boys, age 12, 7 and 5, from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Within a span of two years, they first lost their father and then their mother to AIDS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I feel sorry because I don't have anyone to support my family.

GUPTA: And as if losing their parents weren't enough, for most orphans the situation goes from bad to worse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The status of these children as outcasts make them easy targets for violence, for exploitation, child labor, exclusion from school, gender-based discrimination.

GUPTA: These boys are more fortunate than most. A local community program has taken them in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and give us rights, school material and school uniforms.

GUPTA (on camera): Programs like this one are being touted here at the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, with the full recognition that while they're good, they're simply not enough.

ANN PETERSON, UNAID: The news today is that the global effort is only reaching a small fraction of those in need.

GUPTA (voice over): And the number of those orphans in need will likely grow to nearly 20 million by the end of this decade.

But behind all of those numbers are the stories, like the one of these three boys. They are orphans due to AIDS.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Well, a lot of people believe that the stories of orphans, the stories like the one you just heard, are, in fact, orphans stories themselves here. A lot of the international AIDS conferences talk about the search for a vaccine. We talk about the activism. The orphans are a side story that probably deserves more attention -- Betty.

NGUYEN: A heartbreaking story. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much.

And for more information about the AIDS conference Dr. Gupta is attending or to e-mail him with your questions about AIDS and HIV, all you have to do is visit CNN.com/Health.

Here are some stories making news across America this Tuesday.

The FBI has joined the search for a serial shooter in New Haven, Connecticut. Police say the same gun was used in five shootings that took place over the past two days. Two of the victims were shot seven times. No one has been killed in those attacks.

Several wildfires are working their way through Southern California. The Ravina (ph) fire near Palm Springs has burned about 5,000 acres. Fighting the fires has become more hazardous due to triple-digit temperatures in the area. Thousands of acres have also been destroyed in the San Bernardino and Angeles National Forest.

There is a tiger on the loose in Palm Beach County, Florida. Officials plan to resume their search this morning. Yes, you thought we were kidding, didn't you? Well, the 6-year-old tiger escaped from the home of actor Steven Sipek. He's better known as Steve Hawkes when he played Tarzan in several movies back the 1960s.

The addition of John Edwards to the Democratic ticket was supposed to energize voters. But has it given the Democrats the bump they expected?

Well, joining me now to look inside the numbers is Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport.

Good morning to you.

Has it made much of a difference to voters?

FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Well, the word is that the bounce that everybody looks for, I would say it's a mini- bounce at best associated with the selection of John Edwards by John Kerry.

Remember, there's a lot else that's going on that could affect how people, voters tell us they're going to vote in the election. There's the economy and Iraq and what have you. But in terms of the presidential race itself, it's now 50 percent for the Kerry-Edwards ticket and 46 percent for the Bush-Cheney ticket. That's on the right side.

It is a slight improvement from our CNN/"USA Today" poll in late June. But if you look back to early June, you see that Kerry had a lead over Bush then of about 6 points. So, the current 4-point lead really isn't anything exceptional when you look at the big picture. So, a slight intermediary bump, but we're really probably not going to see a major move-up until the convention when a candidate typically has a 5 to 7-point increase in their standing in the polls. That's later this month, of course.

We did do, interestingly, Betty, a poll in North Carolina to see if maybe the addition of John Edwards, the senator from that state, helped in that state. But look at North Carolina voters. These are likely voters, more Republican than the general register voter pool there. About a 15-point margin for Bush over Kerry. Bush won by 13 points in 2000. So, no change in North Carolina yet coincident with the selection of John Edwards -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Frank, how has President Bush's refusal to speak at the NAACP convention hurting him among African-American voters?

NEWPORT: Well, he's not speaking there, but it's unlikely he was going to make any major gains in the black community anyhow. Look at the numbers from our annual Gallup update on racial attitudes in this country we just finished a week or so ago. Seventy-nine percent of blacks in June said they disapprove of Bush's job performance. We asked who would you vote for, Kerry or Bush? Overwhelmingly, 81 to 12, Kerry over Bush. So, it's unlikely any Republican president is going to do well in that constituency.

NGUYEN: The Senate is preparing to vote on the same-sex marriage amendment, as we well know. Do Americans support the change, or do they not?

NEWPORT: Well, it's interesting. There is a slight majority -- precisely, 51 percent of Americans in our last update -- who said, yes, they support the amendment, which would restrict marriage to only a man and a woman. You see the numbers there. That is a slight majority support.

But, Betty, as you know, it takes two-thirds and three-quarters of the legislators in the Congress and the Senate to pass a constitutional amendment. So, there is nowhere near that kind of super-majority support at this point -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Frank, thank you for sorting out all of the numbers this morning.

Well, we are staying on the campaign trail for "Today's Talker." With less than four months to go, who could get a financial boost soon? And would it really help?

Plus, roll out the hay, pick up your saws. These are serious Olympians down on the farm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Campaign spending is our topic in this morning's "Talker" segment. And joining me are liberal radio talk show host Mike Malloy and conservative radio talk show host Martha Zoller.

Welcome you both to the show. Thanks for being here.

MIKE MALLOY, LIBERAL TALK SHOW HOST: Hey, Betty. Good morning.

MARTHA ZOLLER, CONSERVATIVE TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.

NGUYEN: Well, first off, let's talk about the campaign money. Should the Kerry camp take the $75 million?

Let's start with you, Mr. Malloy. MALLOY: If it's there to be taken, why not? Curiously, these questions are usually directed towards the Democratic nominees, whether they're running for federal office or state office. A quick answer, yes, absolutely.

NGUYEN: What do you think about it, Ms. Zoller?

ZOLLER: Well, you know, I would take the money, too. I mean, this is something Mike and I agree on. You know, to have the $75 million matching funds, to know that you'll get it, is better than banking on, so to speak, whether you're going to raise money late in the game, which is really where the money crunch happens is late in the game. The problem is not what he's got on hand right now. It will be in the future. But I would take it if it was available.

NGUYEN: But how much of a disadvantage is he, since the Democratic Convention comes earlier than the Republican one, which means he's got to spend that money at least a month earlier before the Republicans do? Let's start with you, Mr. Malloy.

MALLOY: Well, yes, I think whoever planned the Democratic Convention, the timing of the Democratic Convention might not have taken that into consideration. Given the scheduling, this crunch time between the convention and the election itself, there's not a whole lot of time available for these guys to make their case. And I do think the Democrats may have made a tactical error in scheduling their convention in July.

NGUYEN: Martha, obviously an advantage for President Bush?

ZOLLER: Well, it's an advantage. And the incumbent always has the advantage. The incumbent gets the later primary. That's been tradition. So, they have the advantage there. But, again, I agree with Mike. This is not going to be too cantankerous this morning, Mike. But I agree with him that they gave a little bit too much time. And I think they even had planned it earlier than that initially and had moved it back a couple of weeks. So, I would have gone into August. I don't think people are still thinking about conventions in July. I have to -- and I follow this every day, and I have to keep reminding myself what day it starts. And I think that that's a difficult thing.

But, you know, all of these things really don't matter. Most of the people are going to make their minds up in September and October, and that doesn't change whether, you know, a Republican is in office or a Democrat.

NGUYEN: And, you know, a lot of that does focus on these campaign ads, because people really take that into account. And these ads, when we talk about them, when Edwards was rolled out by Kerry, the Bush camp quickly started an ad with John McCain, saying that, you know, he was Edwards' -- or Kerry's first pick. Are these ads starting to get nasty? Is this high time to see that kind of a season in this campaign, Mike?

MALLOY: Well, Betty, in the first place, I've said many times on the air, if I were king of America, I would banish all electronic political ads, whether they are radio or television, because they are highly misleading. They lead an electorate away from an informed choice and into a decision-making process that we usually use when we decide on hemorrhoid cream or toothpaste. And it's a terrible situation.

As far as Edwards himself adding to or detracting or from the Kerry ticket, I've said before, John Kerry has to win this on his own. John Edwards may enhance the ticket. He may be injecting a certain kind of vitality that Mr. Kerry -- or Senator Kerry seems to be lacking. But this is John Kerry's contest to win or lose on the merits of how he would be president of the United States. I think Edwards can add, too. But he's not the reason that Kerry will win this election.

ZOLLER: Well, in a Bush -- a very tough spring season for the campaign because of political things that have happened, because of things that have happened in the world. The one thing that they did better than anything else was defining Kerry for the American people, and he has been having to recover from that. And that's what they're trying to do here with John Edwards. They want to be the one to define John Edwards, not John Edwards.

And I think the Democrats should have had really a policy in place, a procedure in place, on how they were going to deal with this. They saw what they did, what the Republicans did very effectively to John Kerry in defining him. They knew they were going to try to do the same thing for Edwards, and they really didn't have a plan for it.

MALLOY: Well, this is the reason that I was mentioning, Betty, that I would eliminate, ban, all electronic advertising is what Martha just said, for one campaign to define -- mis-define the other campaign's candidate. And I think the Republicans are more adept at this than Democrats, because I think Republicans are inherently evil to begin with.

NGUYEN: Well, we're going to...

ZOLLER: Oh, but they had so much to work with, with John Kerry, so many voting for things and then voting against things, and he had a long career in the Senate.

MALLOY: Well, I -- yes.

ZOLLER: But they had so much to work with, with John Kerry. And Republicans and conservatives are not evil, Mike, and you know that.

NGUYEN: Unfortunately, we're going to have to leave it there. We are absolutely out of time. But we thank you both for your insight.

MALLOY: You bet.

ZOLLER: Thanks.

NGUYEN: Mike Malloy and Martha Zoller, thank you. Well, your news, money, weather and sports. The time right now is 6:47 Eastern. And here's what's new.

A U.S. soldier on patrol in Baghdad was injured today. Someone threw a hand grenade at his vehicle. Also today, a top official in Iraq's Ministry of Industry and Minerals was shot and killed outside his home.

The power is slowly being restored across southern Greece, after the country's worst blackout in a decade. The Olympic Games start in Athens in exactly one month, but officials say the capital city was only in the dark for about 40 minutes.

In money, looking for a way to get rid of that old computer? Well, Home Depot and Hewlett-Packard, they are ready to take it off your hands. They're expected to announce a free computer recycling program today.

In culture, the controversial German National Holocaust Memorial is one step closer to completion. Backers marked the halfway point of the construction. The memorial is scheduled to open in May of next year.

And in sports, at the Olympic trials Marion Jones advances in the long jump but just barely. She finished seventh, qualifying for Thursday's final. Jones won bronze in the event back in the 2000 Olympics.

(WEATHER BREAK)

NGUYEN: Still to come on DAYBREAK, one couple's affection pays off. Hear about their command kissing performance.

And, the shirts that bring all new meaning to the phrase, "tube top."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Whatever. Chad, you'll want to check this out, because our Wolf Blitzer stopped to visit "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," and, you know, it's going to be hilarious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You like that crawl at the bottom? Do you like that?

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": I love the crawl. I love the fact that the crawl has nothing to do with what's going on, on the TV.

BLITZER: No.

STEWART: It confuses me. My favorite one?

BLITZER: Yes.

STEWART: The bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussein were being displayed, and underneath it on the crawl it said, "Beyonce doesn't like the word, bootylicious."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Bootylicious -- it's something we don't talk about a lot on this show, except for in the crawl, of course.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You don't think of Wolf as being a funny guy, but he actually really is.

NGUYEN: Yes, he is.

MYERS: So, he was good yesterday with Jon Stewart.

NGUYEN: Well, do you turn heads when you wear little cute T- shirts? Chad does. There is a T-shirt that's sure to make people watch, and it turns chests into flat screens.

Our Jeanne Moos has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Please stay tuned for T-shirt TV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What in heaven's name?

MOOS: An 11-inch screen, four built-in speakers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that is awesome!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like I shouldn't be looking at their chest!

MOOS: That's not what guys say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You kill two birds with one stone, you know. Get to watch a movie and a get a thrill at the same time.

MOOS: Must-see TV, but must not touch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the on and off switch!

MOOS: Just like with any TV, you can do it manually or with a remote. But only creator Adam Hollander of Brand Marketers is allowed to fine-tune the T-shirts. The models are used to the jokes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, the boob tube.

MOOS: And then there's the line actor Tom Hanks used when he crossed paths with a T-shirt TV-wearing model.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, you're very attractive for a flat- chested girl.

MOOS: Right now, T-shirt TV is being used to promote the movie, "I, Robot." It plays digitized media, and it played a live feed from a video camera shooting us.

ADAM HOLLANDER, BRAND MARKETERS: Every time we wear it out, people ask, "Where can I buy it?" They offer us money for it.

MOOS: This is no $10 T-shirt. Until the technology gets cheaper, a T-shirt TV would run several thousand dollars.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does it hurt to wear that?

MOOS: No, the models say it feels like a push-up bra, though even the pushiest bra doesn't weigh seven pounds and take 10 minutes to put on.

MOOS (on camera): I mean, this really is, it's a Teletubby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is.

MOOS: Well, Teleboobies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Teleboobies, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened to cleavage?

MOOS: Cleavage is out.

(voice-over): This is a set men can't resist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Better than boobs!

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Better than boobs.

MYERS: Yes.

NGUYEN: Leave it to a man to say that.

MYERS: I can't believe you just said that. Really. I can't believe she let that...

NGUYEN: Oh, teleboobies.

MYERS: Yes, there you go.

NGUYEN: There you go.

MYERS: Anyway, hey, it's time to give way the mug that we don't have.

NGUYEN: It's not here. MYERS: But I guarantee you we'll have one for you. The one that we asked yesterday, what's the average credit card balance of the average U.S. household? The average is $8,000. It's like the national debt. And our DAYBREAK "Photo of the Day" showed participants in an iron man triathlon in what country. And that country was Germany. Remember all of those arms in the air flying away and legs in the air?

And the winner, from Jackson, New Jersey, Casey Oakes this morning gets our DAYBREAK coffee mug.

And now for the question of the day -- questions of the day. You have to answer them both, by the way. Women make up what percentage of the Iraqi population? And in a weekend Gallup Poll of voters in North Carolina, which presidential candidate leads the race? Which candidate in North Carolina? You would think that would be easy. But, in fact, it's not.

NGUYEN: I know the answers. Do I get a mug?

MYERS: Daybreak@CNN.com. No, you have to earn it. That's your second...

NGUYEN: But I know the answers.

MYERS: That's your second contract.

NGUYEN: OK, all right, we'll work on that that.

We're back after a quick break, but first here's a look at the headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: (AUDIO GAP) new meaning to pucker up and win. A couple from Miami locked lips under water for a minute and six seconds. Well, a big smooch there, and that was enough to win the second world kissing day game in Italy. Check it out.

Well, that's going to do it for us here at the global headquarters in Atlanta. It's on now to "AMERICAN MORNING." Thanks for joining us.

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