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CNN Live At Daybreak
Castro Blasts President Bush In Annual Remarks
Aired July 27, 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A divided America -- let's talk about that in today's talker segment. Our liberal talk show host Mike Malloy can't be with us this morning because he is a brand new dad, and he is with his wife and baby right now.
But conservative hosted Neal Boortz live in Boston. He joins us with his response to some of last night's speeches, including some of what Bill and Hillary Clinton were saying.
Were you listening closely, Neal?
NEAL BOORTZ, CONSERVATIVE TALK SHOW HOST: Listen, hanging on every -- first of all, congratulations to Mike and his wife for a successful download.
COSTELLO: That's interesting way to put it. But yes, congratulations to the Malloy's.
BOORTZ: Absolutely. I love that line, don't you? They believe that the purpose of government is to concentrate wealth. We, on the other hand, believe that the purpose of government is to seize and redistribute wealth.
So there's two sides to that story. But I was hanging on every word. I haven't had a minutes sleep.
COSTELLO: I think what Bill Clinton was trying to do was to demonstrate clear differences between the parties. Did he do that in his speech last night?
BOORTZ: Well, yes and that's because there are clear differences between the parties. I mean one party believes that people should rely on government for all that is important in their lives, and another party, mine particularly, the Libertarian Party, believes that people should rely on their selves. And the best thing you can do for your country is to live your life responsibly and to provide for your own needs.
COSTELLO: OK.
BOORTZ: There are differences.
COSTELLO: Here is a sound bite from Hillary Clinton. She's talking about John Edwards. Let's listen.
BOORTZ: Oh boy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: You also give us something else, a great vice president by the name of John Edwards.
(APPLAUSE)
RODHAM CLINTON: Now you know that John Edwards is smart. He is energetic, and he is empathetic. And he understands the challenges that hard-working Americans face in their daily lives.
Americans will be proud to have the Kerry-Edwards team in the White House. And they will be proud, as we all will be, to have their extraordinary partners, Teresa Heinz Kerry and Elizabeth Edwards working for our country as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And you know, Neal, that was a another theme, that this compassionate conservatism that Republicans talk about is pretty much dead.
BOORTZ: Little-known fact, Carol, in the back bowels here of the FleetCenter, there is an emergency psychological trauma center for any Democrat who actually believes that the Clintons want Kerry to win this election in November.
COSTELLO: Oh, come on, Neal.
BOORTZ: There's no way -- there's no logical thought process that can lead you to the conclusion that Bill and Hillary Clinton want John Kerry to win.
COSTELLO: Well why did they appear at the convention then?
BOORTZ: They appeared at the convention to maintain their rock star status within the party.
But Hillary Clinton, those words in praise of John Edwards could well come back to haunt her in the future when she is running against him for the Democratic nomination if Kerry wins. They're not going to let this guy win.
COSTELLO: Well, let's go to Bill Clinton and his words because in this sound bite that you're going to here, he certainly does praise John Kerry . Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, 42ND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: During the Vietnam War, many young man, including the current president, the vice president and me could have gone to the Vietnam and didn't. John Kerry came from a privileged background. He could have avoided going, too. But instead he said, send me.
(APPLAUSE) CLINTON: When they sent those swift (ph) boats up the river in Vietnam and they told them their job was to draw hostile fire, to wave the American flag and bait the enemy to come out and fight, John Kerry said, send me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now, it was a clever touch to include himself along with Dick Cheney.
BOORTZ: Oh, it was.
COSTELLO: It really was.
BOORTZ: That was a great -- that was absolutely great line. However, I wonder if the real story about John Kerry 's attempts at taking care of his military obligation prior to saying, "send me" will ever come out.
Look, I'm not going to take away from John Kerry 's service. I'm a little bit dubious about that first purple heart. I mean his commanding officer said, hey you weren't under enemy fire. But maybe someday will hear the whole story on that.
But that was an absolute masterful line in Bill Clinton's speech last night, but he's one of the best.
COSTELLO: He certainly is a great speaker.
BOORTZ: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: All right. We're going to go to a sound byte from one of your favorites, Al Gore. Here it goes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Has the promise of compassionate conservatism been fulfilled or do those words now ring hollow?
For that matter, are the economic policies really conservative at all? For example, did you expect the largest deficits in history, year after year, one right after another and the loss of more than a million jobs?
By the way, I know about the bad economy. I was the first one laid off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Al Gore used some funny lines in his speech, you have to admit. And he talked about the economy, a subject that rings loudly with Democratic voters.
BOORTZ: OK, three points.
First of all, compassionate -- it is so easy to show compassion, Carol, when you're showing it with somebody else's money.
The largest deficit in history -- I'm sorry. If you look at the deficit as a percentage of gross domestic or gross national product, it is simply not the largest deficit in history.
COSTELLO: But Neal, even some...
BOORTZ: That's a false statistic.
COSTELLO: ... even some Republicans are upset about the deficit.
BOORTZ: Absolutely. I am too. If it wasn't for the war in Iraq, if it wasn't for the tax cuts which spurred our economy, there's not much to say for George Bush. I didn't vote for him in the last election.
And listen, the run -- the spending is a runaway. But the fact of the matter is that the deficit now is not the largest deficit in history when you consider it in terms of our gross domestic product.
Look if you owe $20,000 and your debt doubles and you only earn 100,000 a year, that's bad news. But if you owe $20,000 and your debt doubles but your income triples, it's not that bad news. So they need to play a little bit more honest with the statistics here.
COSTELLO: All right, Neal. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
BOORTZ: My pleasure.
Neal Boortz, our conservative voice on DAYBREAK every Tuesday.
BOORTZ: Libertarian.
COSTELLO: Libertarian, I'm sorry. I forgot that.
We'll see you later Neal.
BOORTZ: Bye-bye.
COSTELLO: On the heels of day one at the DNC, we have some fresh numbers for you, too. So let's head live to Princeton, New Jersey and Gallup poll editor in chief, Frank Newport.
Frank, good morning.
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR IN CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed we've been pouring over the numbers to see what challenge John Kerry faces. Of course coming up Thursday night, that will be his speech. A couple of points here that the convention is highlighting:
First, a plus for Kerry -- military service. We actually asked voters is that a plus or a minus, the kind of Vietnam service we just heard Bill Clinton refer to in his speech last night?
Net, net it's a plus: 27 percent of voters say Kerry 's Vietnam service makes them more likely to vote for him. Importantly, Independents are just as likely as anybody else to say it's important. And those are really the voters that Kerry is going after.
On the other hand, the Republicans have been successful in creating this image of John Kerry as one who is not decisive, flip- flopping.
This is the question, Bush or Kerry who does not change their position for political reasons. Look at the big gulf here. Clearly people give Bush credit on that issue.
Same thing when we say who is the strongest and most decisive leader. That's why we see that word strong, I think, strung up all over the FleetCenter, Carol. They're really trying to emphasize this week to get away from this kind of image that Kerry has at the moment based on our polling.
COSTELLO: And Frank, we also know Democrats are going to be addressing both the economy and terrorism this week. But which issue could have the greater impact?
NEWPORT: Well everyone is saying that John Kerry has to address terrorism and show people he is a strong leader like Bush, like I just showed you. However, we think really looking at the data that the economy remains very, very important.
Here's a couple of examples. We asked voters to choose which of four issues were most important to them. This is the percent who chose terrorism. Look at the huge difference here.
Republicans strongly say terrorism is the major issue in their vote, but Independents and Democrats much less likely to say it's terrorism, particularly Independents. They are key there, in the middle. They're choosing things like health care and the economy.
So to reach these voters -- and that's who Kerry has to go after -- the economy would be a big issue.
Also we broke out the states by Bush states, by Gore states back in 2000, safe Democratic states, and the key battleground states, and said how's your economy doing?
Notice the Republican states across the country, the economy is looking pretty good. But when we look at the Democratic and then the key states on the right, the showdown states, the economy is rated much worse by residents in these states.
That shows, to that right hand side, that's where Gore -- Kerry -- is playing to, those right-hand showdown states. Economy not rated all that well. Again, another evidence that Kerry has really got to speak to the economy, we think, based on the data.
COSTELLO: Fascinating. You know, these political conventions are designed to like energize the party faithful and boost the turnout at the polls. Well does either side have a clear-cut advantage here?
NEWPORT: We think Democrats do, at this point. Now, this poll was right prior to the beginning of the convention. Enthusiasm is probably going to get higher. But look at the numbers.
Are you more enthusiastic or less enthusiastic about voting this year? Well, Kerry voters, 70 percent more enthusiastic, Bush voters just 52 prior to the convention. Kerry voters clearly already appear to be more motivated this year than the Republicans -- Carol?
COSTELLO: Frank Newport, interesting, as always. And you have a new book out. I want to mention that. Tell us about it.
NEWPORT: Well, "Polling Matters" is the name of the book. Kind of a double title there, "Polling Matters," and about polling matters.
It's all about why polling should be important in a democracy, like we have in this country, Carol. And also I answer a lot of the questions people ask me all the time I can't believe that 1,000 people could represent 100 million -- well I explain how that really works in this book.
COSTELLO: I'm going to buy that book because I've got a question in my mind as well.
Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey. Thank you, as always.
NEWPORT: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Our prime time coverage includes an "American Votes Special" with Wolf Blitzer at 10 p.m. Eastern. Of course I'm talking about the convention.
Aaron Brown follows Wolf at 11 p.m. Eastern. Larry King takes up our coverage at midnight with a large show from the FleetCenter.
In the meantime, DAYBREAK will be back after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is a telling sign that a terrorist attack is still a big concern. Britain is mailing out a terror booklet telling its citizens how to prepare for an emergency.
More on that now from CNN's Robin Oakley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR (voice-over): All 25 million households in Britain are to receive a new booklet detailing what to do in an emergency from a terrorist bombing, to fires and floods. It's common sense advice, says the government, which is launching a nationwide advertising campaign to support the booklet.
CAROLINE FLINT, HOME OFFICE MINISTER, GREAT BRITAIN: None of the advice is new. But it does pull together current best practice and advice from experts and practitioners. The advice it contains has saved lives in the past.
OAKLEY: The advice is needed, say the emergency services, not just because of new threats but because people nowadays are used to having everything available.
CHRIS COX, CHIEF POLICE OFFICERS, GREAT BRITAIN: We found that the community of this generation is less, less ready to deal with destruction than previous.
OAKLEY: The booklet says everyone should get basic first aid training. And in an emergency they should get in, stay in and tune in. Having moved away from immediate danger, you should wait for the emergency services. And in case you should be stuck at home for days, for example waiting for decontamination, there are details on what supplies you should have.
(on camera) Among the essentials the government says need held up at home, candles and matches, a torch and batteries, bottled water and tin food. But, of course, don't forget the can opener.
(voice-over) Security experts have welcomed the government's move, saying that individuals as well as emergency services have to play their part to avoid chaos in an emergency.
SANDRA BELL, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INST., GREAT BRITAIN: The lesson that you've got to learn is to make sure that you calm people down. I mean, when you -- it's very difficult, difficultly when putting information like this out. Either it can be --- time it wrong or pitched it to the wrong level. And you can either end up with mass panic or mass apathy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OAKLEY Ministers are insistent that production of the new booklet isn't in response to any specific, new threat. But U.K. funds for fighting terrorism have been stepped up, so have practice emergency drills for the services who would have to cope with chemical and biological attacks on public transport systems.
It's all part of the changed world, post 9/11 -- Carol?
COSTELLO: Yes, but Robin, isn't it kind of late? Shouldn't they have done that a long time ago?
OAKLEY: Certainly they should have done. I mean, in Australia, for example, a similar booklet was produced about 18 months ago. There's a lot of criticism in the British media that the British government have taken so long to produce this booklet and that it is very nonspecific.
It's not really concentrated on terrorist attacks. It's telling people common sense advice, basically on how to deal with a flood or a fire or any other kinds of public emergency, Carol.
COSTELLO: Robin Oakley, live in London for us this morning, thank you.
Your news, money, weather and sports -- its 6:46 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
Iraqi kidnappers have let a high-ranking Egyptian diplomat go free. He was taken hostage three days ago outside of a mosque. He says his captors treated him well and even gave him gifts, including a dagger.
Federal prosecutors are trying to keep Zacarias Moussaoui's mental health experts away from him. He is the only U.S. defendant charged with 9/11 crimes. Prosecutors say testing now would make it hard for government experts to evaluate Moussaoui's mental health later if there's a death penalty phase in the trial.
In money news, a new feature for your cell phone -- Apple Computer and Motorola have signed a deal to put Apple's i-tunes music service on cell phones. The deal will make it possible for you to transfer songs from your computer to your Motorola mobile handset.
In culture, teen star Mary Kate Olsen has been discharged from a treatment facility after six weeks. She was getting help for an eating disorder.
And sports, Minnesota beat Chicago last night. The Twins are now a game and a half ahead of the second-place White Sox in the AL central. And Detroit is somewhere back there.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, they have a beautiful, new stadium, Carol.
COSTELLO: And they're having a much better season than they did last year.
MARCIANO: They are.
COSTELLO: And there was great hope. And they're heating like mad. They just can't -- they don't have the pitching.
MARCIANO: All right. Well, maybe next year.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MARCIANO: And it's -- there's still time, Carol.
COSTELLO: True.
(WEATHER BREAK)
MARCIANO: Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob. Those are the latest headlines for you. Time now for a little "Business Buzz".
Haven't started back-to-school shopping yet? Well you're not alone. Carrie Lee has more live from the Nasdaq market. It is a little early, isn't it?
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: It feels very early to me, Carol. But I guess, you know, when you take college students into consideration, things like that, people getting out earlier than expected, consider that we see Christmas decorations in September, so never too early.
The National Retail Federation projecting a 5 percent sales increase. Consumers expected to spend $14.8 billion on elementary through high school items this year.
Now a lot of people are trying to cut their --- keep their --- expenses at a minimum. So a lot of consumers say they're going to shop online or go to discount stores to try to stretch their dollars as much as they can. And that's a concern to retailers because back to school dictates what they do for inventories for the upcoming holiday season.
A big reason, high gasoline prices. Remember earlier this year, Wal-Mart said the higher cost of filling the car is taking out $7 a week from customer spending.
So that is the latest on projections for back-to-school.
COSTELLO: How about projections for the futures this morning?
LEE: Well, things looking a little bit upbeat. We could see a little bit of buying at the 9:30 opening bell after a pretty flat session yesterday, at least for the Dow.
The Dow now below 10,000. The Nasdaq at a 10-month low, giving back 10 points yesterday.
Among other stocks we're watching today, Verizon Communications, one of the Dow 30, reporting profits this morning. And that's one stock we'll be following.
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Carrie Lee live from the Nasdaq market site, thank you.
A sinister, threatening character -- an alcoholic. Those are the words Fidel Castro used to describe our commander-in-chief. Hear what other claims he made about President Bush coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The Democrats may be refraining from Bush bashing at their convention, but the president is still being blasted, not in Boston but in Havana, Cuba.
Our bureau chief there, Lucia Newman has details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Fidel Castro usually uses his traditional July 26th speech to boast about the virtues of his revolution, but not this year.
PRES. FIDEL CASTRO, CUBA (through translator): I will dedicate my words to a sinister character, who threatens, insults and slanders us.
NEWMAN: He was referring to President George W. Bush, and this was payback time for a recent speech in which he accused Castro of turning Cuba into a paradise for sexual tourism and child pornography.
Reading excerpts from what he said was a book by American psychiatrist Justin Frank, Castro presented Bush as a religious fanatic suffering from mental instability due to years of alcohol abuse.
CASTRO (through translator): Any psychological or psychoanalytical study of President Bush must explore how much his brain and its functions have changed after more than 20 years of alcoholism.
NEWMAN: Bush admits to having once been a heavy drinker but not an alcoholic, saying he hasn't had a drink since his 40th birthday.
Castro claimed he was driven by hatred or desire for vengeance. But his fury for having been accused of promoting prostitution kept him ridiculing George Bush for the duration of his 90-minute speech.
Although Castro eradicated prostitution in 1959, it resurfaced in the early '90s with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Cuban economy.
(on camera) Prostitution in communist Cuba is undeniable. But it's also true that in the last couple of years Cuba's government has adopted some of the harshest legislation in the world to combat prostitution and pimping.
(voice-over) Officials don't talk about the causes. With the (unintelligible) in the front row and for the first time in memory, Castro did not finish his speech with the traditional, "socialism or death" or "viva the revolution."
CASTRO (through translator): Viva the truth. Viva Cuban dignity.
NEWMAN: A reflection of just how sore a subject prostitution has become.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Lucia Newman now joins us live by phone from Havana, Cuba.
Lucia, are Cuban's buying this? NEWMAN: Carol, if you talk about buying stories about President George Bush's alcoholism or mental stability, let me just say that just a couple of days ago, Cuba became publicly the first country in the world that is officially hosting "Fahrenheit 9/11" in all of its cinemas, all around Cuba now.
This film, the documentary by Michael Moore is being shown all over the country as a further addition to the Bush bashing in this country.
So sure, you know, a lot of people here are open to hear anything bad about President George Bush, but at the same time they also know that this country is not perfect.
People, though, were kind of hurt by the charges made by Bush, the president, on July 16th, in Tampa where he accused President Castro of personally welcoming the rise of prostitution in this country. And that kind of hit a sore note of course, Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, should we really care, as Americans, what Fidel Castro has to say? I mean will his remarks have any lasting effects whatsoever?
NEWMAN: Mainly, I don't know whether we should care or not, but it's true that Cuba is only 90 miles away. And this is more a reflection of this rising tone of aggression between both presidents. It's been going on and on.
President Bush has really committed himself, in his words, to accelerating the downfall of the Castro regime. He has also enacted a series of measures in recent months to try to do that, tougher embargo measures, measures making it more difficult for Americans to travel to this country.
And so President Castro, of course, is trying to get back at him on that. And it just shows that instead of relations getting better between both neighboring countries, they are just getting worse, sort of like back to the Cold War again, Carol.
COSTELLO: Fascinating story. Lucia Newman reporting live by phone from Cuba this morning, thank you.
We're going to take a short break. DAYBREAK will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We are so sorry, we're out of time -- too many live interviews.
Our Seattle. And we kept cutting costs --- no mug to give away today.
COSTELLO: No mug to give away. But tomorrow we'll be back in full force.
From CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello along with Rob Marciano.
AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
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Aired July 27, 2004 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A divided America -- let's talk about that in today's talker segment. Our liberal talk show host Mike Malloy can't be with us this morning because he is a brand new dad, and he is with his wife and baby right now.
But conservative hosted Neal Boortz live in Boston. He joins us with his response to some of last night's speeches, including some of what Bill and Hillary Clinton were saying.
Were you listening closely, Neal?
NEAL BOORTZ, CONSERVATIVE TALK SHOW HOST: Listen, hanging on every -- first of all, congratulations to Mike and his wife for a successful download.
COSTELLO: That's interesting way to put it. But yes, congratulations to the Malloy's.
BOORTZ: Absolutely. I love that line, don't you? They believe that the purpose of government is to concentrate wealth. We, on the other hand, believe that the purpose of government is to seize and redistribute wealth.
So there's two sides to that story. But I was hanging on every word. I haven't had a minutes sleep.
COSTELLO: I think what Bill Clinton was trying to do was to demonstrate clear differences between the parties. Did he do that in his speech last night?
BOORTZ: Well, yes and that's because there are clear differences between the parties. I mean one party believes that people should rely on government for all that is important in their lives, and another party, mine particularly, the Libertarian Party, believes that people should rely on their selves. And the best thing you can do for your country is to live your life responsibly and to provide for your own needs.
COSTELLO: OK.
BOORTZ: There are differences.
COSTELLO: Here is a sound bite from Hillary Clinton. She's talking about John Edwards. Let's listen.
BOORTZ: Oh boy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: You also give us something else, a great vice president by the name of John Edwards.
(APPLAUSE)
RODHAM CLINTON: Now you know that John Edwards is smart. He is energetic, and he is empathetic. And he understands the challenges that hard-working Americans face in their daily lives.
Americans will be proud to have the Kerry-Edwards team in the White House. And they will be proud, as we all will be, to have their extraordinary partners, Teresa Heinz Kerry and Elizabeth Edwards working for our country as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And you know, Neal, that was a another theme, that this compassionate conservatism that Republicans talk about is pretty much dead.
BOORTZ: Little-known fact, Carol, in the back bowels here of the FleetCenter, there is an emergency psychological trauma center for any Democrat who actually believes that the Clintons want Kerry to win this election in November.
COSTELLO: Oh, come on, Neal.
BOORTZ: There's no way -- there's no logical thought process that can lead you to the conclusion that Bill and Hillary Clinton want John Kerry to win.
COSTELLO: Well why did they appear at the convention then?
BOORTZ: They appeared at the convention to maintain their rock star status within the party.
But Hillary Clinton, those words in praise of John Edwards could well come back to haunt her in the future when she is running against him for the Democratic nomination if Kerry wins. They're not going to let this guy win.
COSTELLO: Well, let's go to Bill Clinton and his words because in this sound bite that you're going to here, he certainly does praise John Kerry . Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, 42ND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: During the Vietnam War, many young man, including the current president, the vice president and me could have gone to the Vietnam and didn't. John Kerry came from a privileged background. He could have avoided going, too. But instead he said, send me.
(APPLAUSE) CLINTON: When they sent those swift (ph) boats up the river in Vietnam and they told them their job was to draw hostile fire, to wave the American flag and bait the enemy to come out and fight, John Kerry said, send me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now, it was a clever touch to include himself along with Dick Cheney.
BOORTZ: Oh, it was.
COSTELLO: It really was.
BOORTZ: That was a great -- that was absolutely great line. However, I wonder if the real story about John Kerry 's attempts at taking care of his military obligation prior to saying, "send me" will ever come out.
Look, I'm not going to take away from John Kerry 's service. I'm a little bit dubious about that first purple heart. I mean his commanding officer said, hey you weren't under enemy fire. But maybe someday will hear the whole story on that.
But that was an absolute masterful line in Bill Clinton's speech last night, but he's one of the best.
COSTELLO: He certainly is a great speaker.
BOORTZ: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: All right. We're going to go to a sound byte from one of your favorites, Al Gore. Here it goes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Has the promise of compassionate conservatism been fulfilled or do those words now ring hollow?
For that matter, are the economic policies really conservative at all? For example, did you expect the largest deficits in history, year after year, one right after another and the loss of more than a million jobs?
By the way, I know about the bad economy. I was the first one laid off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Al Gore used some funny lines in his speech, you have to admit. And he talked about the economy, a subject that rings loudly with Democratic voters.
BOORTZ: OK, three points.
First of all, compassionate -- it is so easy to show compassion, Carol, when you're showing it with somebody else's money.
The largest deficit in history -- I'm sorry. If you look at the deficit as a percentage of gross domestic or gross national product, it is simply not the largest deficit in history.
COSTELLO: But Neal, even some...
BOORTZ: That's a false statistic.
COSTELLO: ... even some Republicans are upset about the deficit.
BOORTZ: Absolutely. I am too. If it wasn't for the war in Iraq, if it wasn't for the tax cuts which spurred our economy, there's not much to say for George Bush. I didn't vote for him in the last election.
And listen, the run -- the spending is a runaway. But the fact of the matter is that the deficit now is not the largest deficit in history when you consider it in terms of our gross domestic product.
Look if you owe $20,000 and your debt doubles and you only earn 100,000 a year, that's bad news. But if you owe $20,000 and your debt doubles but your income triples, it's not that bad news. So they need to play a little bit more honest with the statistics here.
COSTELLO: All right, Neal. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
BOORTZ: My pleasure.
Neal Boortz, our conservative voice on DAYBREAK every Tuesday.
BOORTZ: Libertarian.
COSTELLO: Libertarian, I'm sorry. I forgot that.
We'll see you later Neal.
BOORTZ: Bye-bye.
COSTELLO: On the heels of day one at the DNC, we have some fresh numbers for you, too. So let's head live to Princeton, New Jersey and Gallup poll editor in chief, Frank Newport.
Frank, good morning.
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR IN CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed we've been pouring over the numbers to see what challenge John Kerry faces. Of course coming up Thursday night, that will be his speech. A couple of points here that the convention is highlighting:
First, a plus for Kerry -- military service. We actually asked voters is that a plus or a minus, the kind of Vietnam service we just heard Bill Clinton refer to in his speech last night?
Net, net it's a plus: 27 percent of voters say Kerry 's Vietnam service makes them more likely to vote for him. Importantly, Independents are just as likely as anybody else to say it's important. And those are really the voters that Kerry is going after.
On the other hand, the Republicans have been successful in creating this image of John Kerry as one who is not decisive, flip- flopping.
This is the question, Bush or Kerry who does not change their position for political reasons. Look at the big gulf here. Clearly people give Bush credit on that issue.
Same thing when we say who is the strongest and most decisive leader. That's why we see that word strong, I think, strung up all over the FleetCenter, Carol. They're really trying to emphasize this week to get away from this kind of image that Kerry has at the moment based on our polling.
COSTELLO: And Frank, we also know Democrats are going to be addressing both the economy and terrorism this week. But which issue could have the greater impact?
NEWPORT: Well everyone is saying that John Kerry has to address terrorism and show people he is a strong leader like Bush, like I just showed you. However, we think really looking at the data that the economy remains very, very important.
Here's a couple of examples. We asked voters to choose which of four issues were most important to them. This is the percent who chose terrorism. Look at the huge difference here.
Republicans strongly say terrorism is the major issue in their vote, but Independents and Democrats much less likely to say it's terrorism, particularly Independents. They are key there, in the middle. They're choosing things like health care and the economy.
So to reach these voters -- and that's who Kerry has to go after -- the economy would be a big issue.
Also we broke out the states by Bush states, by Gore states back in 2000, safe Democratic states, and the key battleground states, and said how's your economy doing?
Notice the Republican states across the country, the economy is looking pretty good. But when we look at the Democratic and then the key states on the right, the showdown states, the economy is rated much worse by residents in these states.
That shows, to that right hand side, that's where Gore -- Kerry -- is playing to, those right-hand showdown states. Economy not rated all that well. Again, another evidence that Kerry has really got to speak to the economy, we think, based on the data.
COSTELLO: Fascinating. You know, these political conventions are designed to like energize the party faithful and boost the turnout at the polls. Well does either side have a clear-cut advantage here?
NEWPORT: We think Democrats do, at this point. Now, this poll was right prior to the beginning of the convention. Enthusiasm is probably going to get higher. But look at the numbers.
Are you more enthusiastic or less enthusiastic about voting this year? Well, Kerry voters, 70 percent more enthusiastic, Bush voters just 52 prior to the convention. Kerry voters clearly already appear to be more motivated this year than the Republicans -- Carol?
COSTELLO: Frank Newport, interesting, as always. And you have a new book out. I want to mention that. Tell us about it.
NEWPORT: Well, "Polling Matters" is the name of the book. Kind of a double title there, "Polling Matters," and about polling matters.
It's all about why polling should be important in a democracy, like we have in this country, Carol. And also I answer a lot of the questions people ask me all the time I can't believe that 1,000 people could represent 100 million -- well I explain how that really works in this book.
COSTELLO: I'm going to buy that book because I've got a question in my mind as well.
Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey. Thank you, as always.
NEWPORT: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Our prime time coverage includes an "American Votes Special" with Wolf Blitzer at 10 p.m. Eastern. Of course I'm talking about the convention.
Aaron Brown follows Wolf at 11 p.m. Eastern. Larry King takes up our coverage at midnight with a large show from the FleetCenter.
In the meantime, DAYBREAK will be back after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is a telling sign that a terrorist attack is still a big concern. Britain is mailing out a terror booklet telling its citizens how to prepare for an emergency.
More on that now from CNN's Robin Oakley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR (voice-over): All 25 million households in Britain are to receive a new booklet detailing what to do in an emergency from a terrorist bombing, to fires and floods. It's common sense advice, says the government, which is launching a nationwide advertising campaign to support the booklet.
CAROLINE FLINT, HOME OFFICE MINISTER, GREAT BRITAIN: None of the advice is new. But it does pull together current best practice and advice from experts and practitioners. The advice it contains has saved lives in the past.
OAKLEY: The advice is needed, say the emergency services, not just because of new threats but because people nowadays are used to having everything available.
CHRIS COX, CHIEF POLICE OFFICERS, GREAT BRITAIN: We found that the community of this generation is less, less ready to deal with destruction than previous.
OAKLEY: The booklet says everyone should get basic first aid training. And in an emergency they should get in, stay in and tune in. Having moved away from immediate danger, you should wait for the emergency services. And in case you should be stuck at home for days, for example waiting for decontamination, there are details on what supplies you should have.
(on camera) Among the essentials the government says need held up at home, candles and matches, a torch and batteries, bottled water and tin food. But, of course, don't forget the can opener.
(voice-over) Security experts have welcomed the government's move, saying that individuals as well as emergency services have to play their part to avoid chaos in an emergency.
SANDRA BELL, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INST., GREAT BRITAIN: The lesson that you've got to learn is to make sure that you calm people down. I mean, when you -- it's very difficult, difficultly when putting information like this out. Either it can be --- time it wrong or pitched it to the wrong level. And you can either end up with mass panic or mass apathy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OAKLEY Ministers are insistent that production of the new booklet isn't in response to any specific, new threat. But U.K. funds for fighting terrorism have been stepped up, so have practice emergency drills for the services who would have to cope with chemical and biological attacks on public transport systems.
It's all part of the changed world, post 9/11 -- Carol?
COSTELLO: Yes, but Robin, isn't it kind of late? Shouldn't they have done that a long time ago?
OAKLEY: Certainly they should have done. I mean, in Australia, for example, a similar booklet was produced about 18 months ago. There's a lot of criticism in the British media that the British government have taken so long to produce this booklet and that it is very nonspecific.
It's not really concentrated on terrorist attacks. It's telling people common sense advice, basically on how to deal with a flood or a fire or any other kinds of public emergency, Carol.
COSTELLO: Robin Oakley, live in London for us this morning, thank you.
Your news, money, weather and sports -- its 6:46 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
Iraqi kidnappers have let a high-ranking Egyptian diplomat go free. He was taken hostage three days ago outside of a mosque. He says his captors treated him well and even gave him gifts, including a dagger.
Federal prosecutors are trying to keep Zacarias Moussaoui's mental health experts away from him. He is the only U.S. defendant charged with 9/11 crimes. Prosecutors say testing now would make it hard for government experts to evaluate Moussaoui's mental health later if there's a death penalty phase in the trial.
In money news, a new feature for your cell phone -- Apple Computer and Motorola have signed a deal to put Apple's i-tunes music service on cell phones. The deal will make it possible for you to transfer songs from your computer to your Motorola mobile handset.
In culture, teen star Mary Kate Olsen has been discharged from a treatment facility after six weeks. She was getting help for an eating disorder.
And sports, Minnesota beat Chicago last night. The Twins are now a game and a half ahead of the second-place White Sox in the AL central. And Detroit is somewhere back there.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, they have a beautiful, new stadium, Carol.
COSTELLO: And they're having a much better season than they did last year.
MARCIANO: They are.
COSTELLO: And there was great hope. And they're heating like mad. They just can't -- they don't have the pitching.
MARCIANO: All right. Well, maybe next year.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MARCIANO: And it's -- there's still time, Carol.
COSTELLO: True.
(WEATHER BREAK)
MARCIANO: Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob. Those are the latest headlines for you. Time now for a little "Business Buzz".
Haven't started back-to-school shopping yet? Well you're not alone. Carrie Lee has more live from the Nasdaq market. It is a little early, isn't it?
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: It feels very early to me, Carol. But I guess, you know, when you take college students into consideration, things like that, people getting out earlier than expected, consider that we see Christmas decorations in September, so never too early.
The National Retail Federation projecting a 5 percent sales increase. Consumers expected to spend $14.8 billion on elementary through high school items this year.
Now a lot of people are trying to cut their --- keep their --- expenses at a minimum. So a lot of consumers say they're going to shop online or go to discount stores to try to stretch their dollars as much as they can. And that's a concern to retailers because back to school dictates what they do for inventories for the upcoming holiday season.
A big reason, high gasoline prices. Remember earlier this year, Wal-Mart said the higher cost of filling the car is taking out $7 a week from customer spending.
So that is the latest on projections for back-to-school.
COSTELLO: How about projections for the futures this morning?
LEE: Well, things looking a little bit upbeat. We could see a little bit of buying at the 9:30 opening bell after a pretty flat session yesterday, at least for the Dow.
The Dow now below 10,000. The Nasdaq at a 10-month low, giving back 10 points yesterday.
Among other stocks we're watching today, Verizon Communications, one of the Dow 30, reporting profits this morning. And that's one stock we'll be following.
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Carrie Lee live from the Nasdaq market site, thank you.
A sinister, threatening character -- an alcoholic. Those are the words Fidel Castro used to describe our commander-in-chief. Hear what other claims he made about President Bush coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The Democrats may be refraining from Bush bashing at their convention, but the president is still being blasted, not in Boston but in Havana, Cuba.
Our bureau chief there, Lucia Newman has details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Fidel Castro usually uses his traditional July 26th speech to boast about the virtues of his revolution, but not this year.
PRES. FIDEL CASTRO, CUBA (through translator): I will dedicate my words to a sinister character, who threatens, insults and slanders us.
NEWMAN: He was referring to President George W. Bush, and this was payback time for a recent speech in which he accused Castro of turning Cuba into a paradise for sexual tourism and child pornography.
Reading excerpts from what he said was a book by American psychiatrist Justin Frank, Castro presented Bush as a religious fanatic suffering from mental instability due to years of alcohol abuse.
CASTRO (through translator): Any psychological or psychoanalytical study of President Bush must explore how much his brain and its functions have changed after more than 20 years of alcoholism.
NEWMAN: Bush admits to having once been a heavy drinker but not an alcoholic, saying he hasn't had a drink since his 40th birthday.
Castro claimed he was driven by hatred or desire for vengeance. But his fury for having been accused of promoting prostitution kept him ridiculing George Bush for the duration of his 90-minute speech.
Although Castro eradicated prostitution in 1959, it resurfaced in the early '90s with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Cuban economy.
(on camera) Prostitution in communist Cuba is undeniable. But it's also true that in the last couple of years Cuba's government has adopted some of the harshest legislation in the world to combat prostitution and pimping.
(voice-over) Officials don't talk about the causes. With the (unintelligible) in the front row and for the first time in memory, Castro did not finish his speech with the traditional, "socialism or death" or "viva the revolution."
CASTRO (through translator): Viva the truth. Viva Cuban dignity.
NEWMAN: A reflection of just how sore a subject prostitution has become.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Lucia Newman now joins us live by phone from Havana, Cuba.
Lucia, are Cuban's buying this? NEWMAN: Carol, if you talk about buying stories about President George Bush's alcoholism or mental stability, let me just say that just a couple of days ago, Cuba became publicly the first country in the world that is officially hosting "Fahrenheit 9/11" in all of its cinemas, all around Cuba now.
This film, the documentary by Michael Moore is being shown all over the country as a further addition to the Bush bashing in this country.
So sure, you know, a lot of people here are open to hear anything bad about President George Bush, but at the same time they also know that this country is not perfect.
People, though, were kind of hurt by the charges made by Bush, the president, on July 16th, in Tampa where he accused President Castro of personally welcoming the rise of prostitution in this country. And that kind of hit a sore note of course, Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, should we really care, as Americans, what Fidel Castro has to say? I mean will his remarks have any lasting effects whatsoever?
NEWMAN: Mainly, I don't know whether we should care or not, but it's true that Cuba is only 90 miles away. And this is more a reflection of this rising tone of aggression between both presidents. It's been going on and on.
President Bush has really committed himself, in his words, to accelerating the downfall of the Castro regime. He has also enacted a series of measures in recent months to try to do that, tougher embargo measures, measures making it more difficult for Americans to travel to this country.
And so President Castro, of course, is trying to get back at him on that. And it just shows that instead of relations getting better between both neighboring countries, they are just getting worse, sort of like back to the Cold War again, Carol.
COSTELLO: Fascinating story. Lucia Newman reporting live by phone from Cuba this morning, thank you.
We're going to take a short break. DAYBREAK will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We are so sorry, we're out of time -- too many live interviews.
Our Seattle. And we kept cutting costs --- no mug to give away today.
COSTELLO: No mug to give away. But tomorrow we'll be back in full force.
From CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello along with Rob Marciano.
AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
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