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CNN Live At Daybreak
Republican National Convention Observations; 'Today's Talker'
Aired August 31, 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: In the opening day, the Republican Convention speakers praise President Bush as a strong, decisive leader, and bashed Senator Kerry as weak and wavering. What a start.
Let's bring in Bob Franken to get his observations from New York City.
Good morning -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, the weak and wavering opposite -- observations here.
COSTELLO: Do you want to talk about security first?
FRANKEN: Well, sure. Sure, let's talk about security. Let's talk about the fact that it is massive. Let's talk about the fact that oftentimes it is inconsistent. One policeman at one checkpoint will tell you, you can or cannot go to a certain place, and then you find out from another checkpoint that, yes, you should have done it the original way.
There is an awful lot of that going on. And, as a matter of fact, I've talked to some of the New York City policemen who have complained about that a little bit. But it is such a massive operation, the organizers of it say, that there is bound to be that kind of problem. They are focused on the larger problem, which is to make sure there is no attack, and that the demonstrations don't get out of hand.
COSTELLO: Inside Madison Square Garden there are a lot of people, but most of them are members of the media, aren't they?
FRANKEN: Oh, we always outnumber the delegates at this kind of event. There are 50,000 all together here, and probably the largest single group is the group of journalists or wannabe journalists.
COSTELLO: Can you compare this convention to the Democratic National Convention in Boston? What differences do you see?
FRANKEN: Well, its start was a little bit more prickly. You had Michael Moore, who was in the hall, and he was, in effect, taunting the speakers. Senator John McCain clearly responded to him, calling him "disingenuous," Michael Moore, the maker of the movie, "Fahrenheit 9/11."
You also had some statements from President Bush that Democrats are pouncing on. There is a very bitter national divide in this country right now, a political divide, and you're seeing it manifested even more here than you did during the Democratic Convention in Boston.
COSTELLO: Bob Franken live in New York City right outside of Madison Square Garden. We're going to get to Michael Moore's comments and John McCain's comments and Rudy Giuliani's comments.
But first, we want to tell you, you can get a bird's-eye view of all of the activities at the Republican Convention right here on CNN. Our primetime coverage begins tonight at 7:00 Eastern with Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer and then Larry King.
And at 10:00 Eastern, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger takes the stage, followed by "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN." And then Larry King will wrap things up tonight live at midnight.
And all this week during the convention, if you're away from your television set, tune us in for a live radio broadcast, "CNN LIVE FROM." Anchor Kyra Phillips and I will be broadcasting live every night. Starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, we'll have complete coverage of everything going on in the Big Apple. That's on CNN Radio all this week from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern.
Well, did you see the jab Senator McCain got in at filmmaker Michael Moore? Take a look at what happened when the senator defended the president's case for war, and the creator of "Fahrenheit 9/11" found himself in the midst of GOP faithful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Our choice wasn't between a benign status quo and the bloodshed of war. It was between war and a graver threat. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not our political opponents, and certainly not -- and certainly not a disingenuous filmmaker, who would have us believe...
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: ... who would have us believe...
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: ... who would...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four more years!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four more years!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four more years!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And that does bring us to our hot talker of the morning. Joining us from the left from Chicago, talker Nancy Skinner, and our libertarian from the right, Neal Boortz, is in New York.
Welcome to you both.
NANCY SKINNER, LIBERAL RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning. Neal, let's start with you. Those comments about Michael Moore came from a guy who is supposed to be a unifier.
NEAL BOORTZ, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Oh, come on. I think that was fun. I think Michael Moore actually enjoyed it. Don't you?
COSTELLO: It looked like he enjoyed it.
BOORTZ: Yes, he was...
COSTELLO: He was saying, "Two more months."
BOORTZ: He was having a great deal of fun. You know, sometimes you wonder. I wonder if he really is a nice guy in person. Maybe I'll have a chance to find out in the next couple of days while I'm here in New York.
COSTELLO: Well, he's in Madison Square Garden. I think you should hunt him down.
BOORTZ: Well, I will. I will.
COSTELLO: Yes, right.
BOORTZ: I'll just get an elephant rifle and go out and look for him.
COSTELLO: Neal! Nancy...
BOORTZ: Well, I mean, I'm just remarking on his girth.
COSTELLO: Neal, behave this morning. It's early.
Nancy, why pick on Michael Moore, though?
SKINNER: You know, it's hear no evil and see no evil. And I'll tell you, I think this convention should have been held on Broadway, Carol, because it's fictional. The whole thing is about President Bush's leadership ability after 9/11.
Now, let me see, for seven minutes he sat there and read "My Pet Goat" after he was told the nation is under attack. Then we ended up going into Afghanistan, which rightly so, but now it's broken. And outside of Kabul, it's all warlords and it's the biggest heroin crack house in the world. And then we went into Iraq, obviously. And as President Bush himself says, it was a catastrophic success with no plan.
COSTELLO: Well, we're getting kind of...
SKINNER: How is this leadership? Why are we celebrating his great abilities at leadership when this is the situation?
COSTELLO: Neal?
BOORTZ: Oh, look, I have to admit to being a little bit weary of worrying about what George Bush did for seven minutes while he was in that class. Frankly, I think that maybe Nancy has it right. He should have stood up in front of those school kids, and said, My God, we're under attack! All you kids get under your desk. I've got to go somewhere. That probably would have been a much better reaction.
The leadership is clear. It has been unwavering, his determination to take the fight to the Islamic terrorists. There is no flip-flopping. There is no wavering on that determination on the part of George Bush. Now...
COSTELLO: And it's interesting, Neal, you bring up flip- flopping, because Rudy Giuliani played the part of the attack dog last night. Let's listen to what he had to say about John Kerry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: My point about John Kerry being inconsistent is best described -- in his own words, not mine -- I quote John Kerry: "I actually did vote for the 87 billion before I voted against it."
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Nancy, you talk about the Democrats' message on the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism. But the message is not clear yet, is it?
SKINNER: Well, you know, that's a Karl Rove line right there. Let's face it. President Bush first opposed the creation of the Homeland Security Department; then he supported it. He opposed the creation of the 9/11 Commission; then he supported it. So, there have been plenty of changes on the president's points of view.
And John Kerry only opposed the $87 billion because it didn't have the right amount of equipment he wanted, those monies to be partly loans. He wanted body armor. There were so many more details. You can't say in one line that he flip-flopped on his position.
COSTELLO: But, Neal, certainly the Republicans were trying to make that message clear to their constituency last night.
BOORTZ: Well, first of all, let's remember what Nancy said just now. You can't take from one line that somebody has flip-flopped on their position. And let's now watch the Democrats play with George Bush's statement in the last couple of days that we can't win the war on terror.
So, Nancy, remember what you said. You are forever estopped from ever bringing up that line on the war on terror. SKINNER: Oh, there's a difference there, Neal. He said it's not winnable. That's the whole point...
BOORTZ: Oh, oh, oh, now there's...
SKINNER: That's the whole point of the convention.
BOORTZ: Now there is a difference, OK.
SKINNER: Trust me, I am going to win the war on terrorism. Oh, but, by the way, it's not winnable.
BOORTZ: Now...
SKINNER: You know what?
BOORTZ: From one line...
SKINNER: He should go back to baseball, because you can win in baseball.
BOORTZ: From one line, now there is a difference. Nancy, come on. A little consistency, please.
SKINNER: You can win in baseball. He likes baseball.
COSTELLO: We'll wrap it up there. Nancy Skinner and Neal Boortz joining us live on DAYBREAK this morning, thanks so much.
BOORTZ: Take care.
SKINNER: You bet.
COSTELLO: Coming up on DAYBREAK, another case of a toy getting very few laughs at 45 minutes past the hour. You will probably recognize this. Take a look at that candy. We'll tell you how in the world that got into stores.
Then at 50 minutes past the hour, men, women and the White House. Which sex is more likely to have their minds made up?
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: U.S. markets will open down this morning after a day of extremely light trading. The Dow closed down 72 points, the Nasdaq fell 25 and a half points, and the S&P 500 was down about 8 and a half points.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:43 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
A radical Shiite cleric, whose militia battled American forces in Najaf, is turning political. A top aide to Muqtada al-Sadr says he will back several candidates in Iraq's first national elections.
A plastic toy showing Osama bin Laden standing between the World Trade Center towers have popped in bags of Mexican candy in Florida. The distributor says they bought the toys in bulk and didn't notice what they depicted. The candy is now being recalled, and it's been taken off of store shelves, as you might imagine.
In money news, U.S. light crude is trading at $42.30 a barrel. That's well below the record high of nearly 50 bucks earlier this month. So, you can expect gas prices at the pump to drop next.
In culture, a possible new venue for Donald Trump. The real estate mogul-turned-TV star may now have his sights set on higher education. Trump has filed to trademark the name Trump University for a possible online business school.
Wheaties had decided against using controversial gold medalist Paul Hamm in its newest Olympics champions' campaign. Swimmer Michael Phelps, sprinter Justin Gatlin and gymnast Carly Patterson will all be on Wheaties boxes; 104 other American medalists were also left out.
(WEATHER BREAK)
COSTELLO: That's a look at the latest headlines for you.
Let's head out to New York City to check in with Bill Hemmer to see what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."
And John McCain, Rudy Giuliani maybe?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I think you're right on track, as a matter of fact, yes. How are you, Carol.
Listen, we'll have a lot more. John McCain will be with us today, following up his speech from last night. Rudy Giuliani is with us as well.
And we'll also talk to the first lady, Laura Bush, on the campaign trail, now in Michigan. We'll talk to her about what's been happening so far. She's done a few interviews in the past couple of days, Carol, and some interesting topics, too, that we'll pick up on today and try to get some clarification as we move forward now in day two of this convention.
It will not all be about 2004 and politics today. The McGreevey scandal continues in the state of New Jersey. The accuser is no longer filing suit. We'll talk to his attorneys and ask them why.
The Kobe Bryant matter, race, sex and money are now at the center of jury selection. Jeffrey Toobin is on that for us today.
Heidi is with us again over at Time Life. Jack Cafferty, Andy Serwer are still working the diner across town, which is getting amazing attention so far in only day two, Carol. Do you know why?
COSTELLO: Why? HEMMER: The food is free. And you know what else, Carol?
COSTELLO: What?
HEMMER: It's pretty good.
COSTELLO: Really?
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: What's on the menu?
HEMMER: Hey, how was the radio last night, CNN Radio? All of our affiliates across the country are listening to you and Kyra?
COSTELLO: Yes, they were. I'm sure they were. And it went very well. Thank you for asking.
HEMMER: Excellent.
COSTELLO: And tonight, of course, we'll be back on the radio, 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., and I'm just stunned I'm actually awake this morning.
HEMMER: You and me both, by the way.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: See you later.
COSTELLO: It's time now for a little business buzz. The Athens Olympics brings in gold for NBC.
Carrie Lee has finally made it to the Nasdaq Marketsite. You were stuck in traffic.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It's been a little hairy here, Carol. Some traffic accidents, the Republican Convention rerouting things. But here I am ready to talk about the games, which are now over. But, of course, now they're tallying up the profits.
General Electric is estimating $70 million in profits, up from the prior estimated $20 million. And basically for the Athens games, NBC saw a broad rating surge across five of its primary networks, which is, of course, the main NBC broadcast channel, MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network and Bravo.
Let's talk about ad sales for a minute. Because broadcast viewership exceeded ratings that NBC universal had promised advertisers, the network was able to sell last last-minute commercial time slots that had been set aside. So, all totaled up, they sold over a billion dollars in ads, and they paid just $793 million for the right to broadcast the competition.
So, they made money. In fact, NBC has made money on every Olympics competition with the exception of the Barcelona Games. They have been broadcasting every Olympics since 1988, a rather lucrative thing for them to do.
Carol -- back to you.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. Thank you, Carrie Lee, live from the Nasdaq Marketsite.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, we know who the delegates at this week's convention are voting for, but how is the race shaping up among the rest of America? We've got some new Gallup Poll numbers to share with you.
This is DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The Republican Convention will have quite a lineup today. Last year's Miss America will be there, along with former "Survivor" contestant, Elisabeth Hasselbeck. She's on "The View now." You know, the blonde? Oh, yes, some guy named Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be there, too.
But will these speakers have any effect on voters? For that, we're joined by Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport.
Good morning, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed, we don't know yet, of course, how much impact the speakers are going to have, but we do know going into the convention the two stars, Rudy Giuliani and probably Mrs. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush. Why? Because they have the highest favorable ratings.
Look at tonight's two primetime speakers of note: Mrs. Bush, 63 percent favorable, a lot higher than her husband's, who is down to just at 54 percent, and the California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, only at 56. He's a celebrity, a movie star, but his favorable rating isn't all that high.
Last night it was McCain and Giuliani. McCain, his ratings are actually lower than they had been in the past, but Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, at 65 percent job approval rating.
Of everybody we tested who is going to be on that podium, Rudy is the one who had the highest favorable. So, we assume his speech last night probably had a significant impact -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. So, do you have numbers on who is most likely to sway independent voters?
NEWPORT: Well, independent voters are an interesting phenomenon this year. All of these speeches are being played out probably at just about, by our estimations at Gallup, about 17 percent of the voters.
Now, we do know as the candidates speak to these people, they're trying to either address their strengths, Carol, or try to remedy their weaknesses. Last night, it was Bush, his surrogates trying to address his strengths: terrorism. Look at that: 54 to 37 percent Bush over Kerry when it comes to handling terrorism. That's why you heard so much about it. And Iraq, Bush does a little better than Kerry.
But let me just show you, when it comes to domestic issues on taxes, Kerry does better than Bush. And when we go to Medicare, when we go to the economy, when we go to education, those blue bars are higher each time. That means Kerry does better than Bush.
So, the real question is going to be how much Bush will attempt and his people to address his perceived weaknesses as the week goes on -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, let's talk some more about these independent voters or swing voters. Exactly how many are there out there? And how many are women? How many are men?
NEWPORT: Well, people keep calling me here at Gallup, reporters, and ask you, who are these swing voters, demographically? Are they young? Are they old? Are they left-handed? Are they red-headed? You know, and we just don't find a lot of differences.
There are 17 percent of them, as I mentioned a minute ago. That's it. This whole campaign is being played out to just about 17 percent of people who, we think at Gallup, could change their mind.
Now, 19 percent of women, 16 percent of men, just not a lot of demographic differences. And actually, Carol, this is 17 percent of the whole population, but we have to throw out those red and blue states. So, actually this whole election is coming down to about 17 percent of voters who live in about 15 states. How is that for really narrowing the focus of this?
COSTELLO: Well, that is really fascinating. Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey, this morning. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK.
We're reading some of your e-mail this morning, and we've got a lot of e-mail in our in-box. And we asked the question: Are the primetime convention speakers representative of the Republican Party? Because they're putting all of their moderate stars in primetime.
This is from Glenn (ph). He says: "It's a big (UNINTELLIGIBLE). McCain is pro-life. Rudy and Arnold are pro-abortion. Cheney is pro- gay." At least we think so. He has a gay daughter, as you know.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: His daughter.
COSTELLO: "And they all agree that America needs to re-elect George W. Bush to the White House that certainly and accurately represents the GOP."
MYERS: OK. And I've got one from Joe in Washington: "You go to a bar at night. You see somebody you like. They buy you a drink, and they listen to everything you have to say. Is that the real them?"
COSTELLO: Very clever.
MYERS: I don't know what you're talking about Joe, but I get it.
COSTELLO: I get it, too. That was very clever.
This is from Sarah (ph): "As a registered Republican, I can tell you today's Republican Party does not represent conservative values. The religious extremists of the Republican Party have lost sight of the Constitution's basic freedoms and protections for citizens. And would someone please explain again how invading Iraq made America safer?"
MYERS: Well, they tried last night to explain that over and over and over.
COSTELLO: This one from Hawaii from Wendy: "In a word, no. And several no, no, no. I do not believe that the key speakers at the RNC are representative of the Republican Party's philosophy. Just compare the planks and the platform with those speakers' professed views. Not a match, not even close."
And, of course, on tap tonight: Laura Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
MYERS: And I thank you for your e-mails today. Literally, there were a couple of hundred. It was so hard to go through them all.
COSTELLO: I know. We had to get them off fast. But thank you. They're always fascinating.
We're going to announce our mug winner in just a few minutes.
This is DAYBREAK for a Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's mug winner time.
MYERS: Good questions yesterday. Lots of good answers, too.
COSTELLO: One hard question and one easy question, I thought.
MYERS: Yes, because we did ask how many gold medals we got, not how many medals. I got a lot of those total medal numbers. We got 103.
Anyway, what is the statue that the artists receive at the MTV Video and Music Awards? And that's called a Moonman award.
And how many Olympic gold medals did the U.S. win at the 2004 Summer Olympics? That number is 35.
And the winner, the winner, John Gutierrez from Pembroke Pines, Florida. John, you are... COSTELLO: I swear he has won before.
MYERS: Maybe you're thinking of Thelma Gutierrez, our reporter. I don't think they're related.
COSTELLO: Oh.
MYERS: Now your chance to win the question of the day for the mug for tomorrow.
Gas prices have fallen to their lowest level in how many months? And what percentage of women say they are still undecided about their choice for president? Men, no smart-aleck answers.
COSTELLO: Daybreak@CNN.com. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
MYERS: See you.
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Aired August 31, 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: In the opening day, the Republican Convention speakers praise President Bush as a strong, decisive leader, and bashed Senator Kerry as weak and wavering. What a start.
Let's bring in Bob Franken to get his observations from New York City.
Good morning -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, the weak and wavering opposite -- observations here.
COSTELLO: Do you want to talk about security first?
FRANKEN: Well, sure. Sure, let's talk about security. Let's talk about the fact that it is massive. Let's talk about the fact that oftentimes it is inconsistent. One policeman at one checkpoint will tell you, you can or cannot go to a certain place, and then you find out from another checkpoint that, yes, you should have done it the original way.
There is an awful lot of that going on. And, as a matter of fact, I've talked to some of the New York City policemen who have complained about that a little bit. But it is such a massive operation, the organizers of it say, that there is bound to be that kind of problem. They are focused on the larger problem, which is to make sure there is no attack, and that the demonstrations don't get out of hand.
COSTELLO: Inside Madison Square Garden there are a lot of people, but most of them are members of the media, aren't they?
FRANKEN: Oh, we always outnumber the delegates at this kind of event. There are 50,000 all together here, and probably the largest single group is the group of journalists or wannabe journalists.
COSTELLO: Can you compare this convention to the Democratic National Convention in Boston? What differences do you see?
FRANKEN: Well, its start was a little bit more prickly. You had Michael Moore, who was in the hall, and he was, in effect, taunting the speakers. Senator John McCain clearly responded to him, calling him "disingenuous," Michael Moore, the maker of the movie, "Fahrenheit 9/11."
You also had some statements from President Bush that Democrats are pouncing on. There is a very bitter national divide in this country right now, a political divide, and you're seeing it manifested even more here than you did during the Democratic Convention in Boston.
COSTELLO: Bob Franken live in New York City right outside of Madison Square Garden. We're going to get to Michael Moore's comments and John McCain's comments and Rudy Giuliani's comments.
But first, we want to tell you, you can get a bird's-eye view of all of the activities at the Republican Convention right here on CNN. Our primetime coverage begins tonight at 7:00 Eastern with Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer and then Larry King.
And at 10:00 Eastern, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger takes the stage, followed by "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN." And then Larry King will wrap things up tonight live at midnight.
And all this week during the convention, if you're away from your television set, tune us in for a live radio broadcast, "CNN LIVE FROM." Anchor Kyra Phillips and I will be broadcasting live every night. Starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, we'll have complete coverage of everything going on in the Big Apple. That's on CNN Radio all this week from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern.
Well, did you see the jab Senator McCain got in at filmmaker Michael Moore? Take a look at what happened when the senator defended the president's case for war, and the creator of "Fahrenheit 9/11" found himself in the midst of GOP faithful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Our choice wasn't between a benign status quo and the bloodshed of war. It was between war and a graver threat. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not our political opponents, and certainly not -- and certainly not a disingenuous filmmaker, who would have us believe...
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: ... who would have us believe...
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: ... who would...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four more years!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four more years!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four more years!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And that does bring us to our hot talker of the morning. Joining us from the left from Chicago, talker Nancy Skinner, and our libertarian from the right, Neal Boortz, is in New York.
Welcome to you both.
NANCY SKINNER, LIBERAL RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning. Neal, let's start with you. Those comments about Michael Moore came from a guy who is supposed to be a unifier.
NEAL BOORTZ, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Oh, come on. I think that was fun. I think Michael Moore actually enjoyed it. Don't you?
COSTELLO: It looked like he enjoyed it.
BOORTZ: Yes, he was...
COSTELLO: He was saying, "Two more months."
BOORTZ: He was having a great deal of fun. You know, sometimes you wonder. I wonder if he really is a nice guy in person. Maybe I'll have a chance to find out in the next couple of days while I'm here in New York.
COSTELLO: Well, he's in Madison Square Garden. I think you should hunt him down.
BOORTZ: Well, I will. I will.
COSTELLO: Yes, right.
BOORTZ: I'll just get an elephant rifle and go out and look for him.
COSTELLO: Neal! Nancy...
BOORTZ: Well, I mean, I'm just remarking on his girth.
COSTELLO: Neal, behave this morning. It's early.
Nancy, why pick on Michael Moore, though?
SKINNER: You know, it's hear no evil and see no evil. And I'll tell you, I think this convention should have been held on Broadway, Carol, because it's fictional. The whole thing is about President Bush's leadership ability after 9/11.
Now, let me see, for seven minutes he sat there and read "My Pet Goat" after he was told the nation is under attack. Then we ended up going into Afghanistan, which rightly so, but now it's broken. And outside of Kabul, it's all warlords and it's the biggest heroin crack house in the world. And then we went into Iraq, obviously. And as President Bush himself says, it was a catastrophic success with no plan.
COSTELLO: Well, we're getting kind of...
SKINNER: How is this leadership? Why are we celebrating his great abilities at leadership when this is the situation?
COSTELLO: Neal?
BOORTZ: Oh, look, I have to admit to being a little bit weary of worrying about what George Bush did for seven minutes while he was in that class. Frankly, I think that maybe Nancy has it right. He should have stood up in front of those school kids, and said, My God, we're under attack! All you kids get under your desk. I've got to go somewhere. That probably would have been a much better reaction.
The leadership is clear. It has been unwavering, his determination to take the fight to the Islamic terrorists. There is no flip-flopping. There is no wavering on that determination on the part of George Bush. Now...
COSTELLO: And it's interesting, Neal, you bring up flip- flopping, because Rudy Giuliani played the part of the attack dog last night. Let's listen to what he had to say about John Kerry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: My point about John Kerry being inconsistent is best described -- in his own words, not mine -- I quote John Kerry: "I actually did vote for the 87 billion before I voted against it."
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Nancy, you talk about the Democrats' message on the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism. But the message is not clear yet, is it?
SKINNER: Well, you know, that's a Karl Rove line right there. Let's face it. President Bush first opposed the creation of the Homeland Security Department; then he supported it. He opposed the creation of the 9/11 Commission; then he supported it. So, there have been plenty of changes on the president's points of view.
And John Kerry only opposed the $87 billion because it didn't have the right amount of equipment he wanted, those monies to be partly loans. He wanted body armor. There were so many more details. You can't say in one line that he flip-flopped on his position.
COSTELLO: But, Neal, certainly the Republicans were trying to make that message clear to their constituency last night.
BOORTZ: Well, first of all, let's remember what Nancy said just now. You can't take from one line that somebody has flip-flopped on their position. And let's now watch the Democrats play with George Bush's statement in the last couple of days that we can't win the war on terror.
So, Nancy, remember what you said. You are forever estopped from ever bringing up that line on the war on terror. SKINNER: Oh, there's a difference there, Neal. He said it's not winnable. That's the whole point...
BOORTZ: Oh, oh, oh, now there's...
SKINNER: That's the whole point of the convention.
BOORTZ: Now there is a difference, OK.
SKINNER: Trust me, I am going to win the war on terrorism. Oh, but, by the way, it's not winnable.
BOORTZ: Now...
SKINNER: You know what?
BOORTZ: From one line...
SKINNER: He should go back to baseball, because you can win in baseball.
BOORTZ: From one line, now there is a difference. Nancy, come on. A little consistency, please.
SKINNER: You can win in baseball. He likes baseball.
COSTELLO: We'll wrap it up there. Nancy Skinner and Neal Boortz joining us live on DAYBREAK this morning, thanks so much.
BOORTZ: Take care.
SKINNER: You bet.
COSTELLO: Coming up on DAYBREAK, another case of a toy getting very few laughs at 45 minutes past the hour. You will probably recognize this. Take a look at that candy. We'll tell you how in the world that got into stores.
Then at 50 minutes past the hour, men, women and the White House. Which sex is more likely to have their minds made up?
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
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COSTELLO: U.S. markets will open down this morning after a day of extremely light trading. The Dow closed down 72 points, the Nasdaq fell 25 and a half points, and the S&P 500 was down about 8 and a half points.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:43 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
A radical Shiite cleric, whose militia battled American forces in Najaf, is turning political. A top aide to Muqtada al-Sadr says he will back several candidates in Iraq's first national elections.
A plastic toy showing Osama bin Laden standing between the World Trade Center towers have popped in bags of Mexican candy in Florida. The distributor says they bought the toys in bulk and didn't notice what they depicted. The candy is now being recalled, and it's been taken off of store shelves, as you might imagine.
In money news, U.S. light crude is trading at $42.30 a barrel. That's well below the record high of nearly 50 bucks earlier this month. So, you can expect gas prices at the pump to drop next.
In culture, a possible new venue for Donald Trump. The real estate mogul-turned-TV star may now have his sights set on higher education. Trump has filed to trademark the name Trump University for a possible online business school.
Wheaties had decided against using controversial gold medalist Paul Hamm in its newest Olympics champions' campaign. Swimmer Michael Phelps, sprinter Justin Gatlin and gymnast Carly Patterson will all be on Wheaties boxes; 104 other American medalists were also left out.
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COSTELLO: That's a look at the latest headlines for you.
Let's head out to New York City to check in with Bill Hemmer to see what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."
And John McCain, Rudy Giuliani maybe?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I think you're right on track, as a matter of fact, yes. How are you, Carol.
Listen, we'll have a lot more. John McCain will be with us today, following up his speech from last night. Rudy Giuliani is with us as well.
And we'll also talk to the first lady, Laura Bush, on the campaign trail, now in Michigan. We'll talk to her about what's been happening so far. She's done a few interviews in the past couple of days, Carol, and some interesting topics, too, that we'll pick up on today and try to get some clarification as we move forward now in day two of this convention.
It will not all be about 2004 and politics today. The McGreevey scandal continues in the state of New Jersey. The accuser is no longer filing suit. We'll talk to his attorneys and ask them why.
The Kobe Bryant matter, race, sex and money are now at the center of jury selection. Jeffrey Toobin is on that for us today.
Heidi is with us again over at Time Life. Jack Cafferty, Andy Serwer are still working the diner across town, which is getting amazing attention so far in only day two, Carol. Do you know why?
COSTELLO: Why? HEMMER: The food is free. And you know what else, Carol?
COSTELLO: What?
HEMMER: It's pretty good.
COSTELLO: Really?
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: What's on the menu?
HEMMER: Hey, how was the radio last night, CNN Radio? All of our affiliates across the country are listening to you and Kyra?
COSTELLO: Yes, they were. I'm sure they were. And it went very well. Thank you for asking.
HEMMER: Excellent.
COSTELLO: And tonight, of course, we'll be back on the radio, 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., and I'm just stunned I'm actually awake this morning.
HEMMER: You and me both, by the way.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: See you later.
COSTELLO: It's time now for a little business buzz. The Athens Olympics brings in gold for NBC.
Carrie Lee has finally made it to the Nasdaq Marketsite. You were stuck in traffic.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It's been a little hairy here, Carol. Some traffic accidents, the Republican Convention rerouting things. But here I am ready to talk about the games, which are now over. But, of course, now they're tallying up the profits.
General Electric is estimating $70 million in profits, up from the prior estimated $20 million. And basically for the Athens games, NBC saw a broad rating surge across five of its primary networks, which is, of course, the main NBC broadcast channel, MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network and Bravo.
Let's talk about ad sales for a minute. Because broadcast viewership exceeded ratings that NBC universal had promised advertisers, the network was able to sell last last-minute commercial time slots that had been set aside. So, all totaled up, they sold over a billion dollars in ads, and they paid just $793 million for the right to broadcast the competition.
So, they made money. In fact, NBC has made money on every Olympics competition with the exception of the Barcelona Games. They have been broadcasting every Olympics since 1988, a rather lucrative thing for them to do.
Carol -- back to you.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. Thank you, Carrie Lee, live from the Nasdaq Marketsite.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, we know who the delegates at this week's convention are voting for, but how is the race shaping up among the rest of America? We've got some new Gallup Poll numbers to share with you.
This is DAYBREAK.
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COSTELLO: The Republican Convention will have quite a lineup today. Last year's Miss America will be there, along with former "Survivor" contestant, Elisabeth Hasselbeck. She's on "The View now." You know, the blonde? Oh, yes, some guy named Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be there, too.
But will these speakers have any effect on voters? For that, we're joined by Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport.
Good morning, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed, we don't know yet, of course, how much impact the speakers are going to have, but we do know going into the convention the two stars, Rudy Giuliani and probably Mrs. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush. Why? Because they have the highest favorable ratings.
Look at tonight's two primetime speakers of note: Mrs. Bush, 63 percent favorable, a lot higher than her husband's, who is down to just at 54 percent, and the California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, only at 56. He's a celebrity, a movie star, but his favorable rating isn't all that high.
Last night it was McCain and Giuliani. McCain, his ratings are actually lower than they had been in the past, but Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, at 65 percent job approval rating.
Of everybody we tested who is going to be on that podium, Rudy is the one who had the highest favorable. So, we assume his speech last night probably had a significant impact -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. So, do you have numbers on who is most likely to sway independent voters?
NEWPORT: Well, independent voters are an interesting phenomenon this year. All of these speeches are being played out probably at just about, by our estimations at Gallup, about 17 percent of the voters.
Now, we do know as the candidates speak to these people, they're trying to either address their strengths, Carol, or try to remedy their weaknesses. Last night, it was Bush, his surrogates trying to address his strengths: terrorism. Look at that: 54 to 37 percent Bush over Kerry when it comes to handling terrorism. That's why you heard so much about it. And Iraq, Bush does a little better than Kerry.
But let me just show you, when it comes to domestic issues on taxes, Kerry does better than Bush. And when we go to Medicare, when we go to the economy, when we go to education, those blue bars are higher each time. That means Kerry does better than Bush.
So, the real question is going to be how much Bush will attempt and his people to address his perceived weaknesses as the week goes on -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, let's talk some more about these independent voters or swing voters. Exactly how many are there out there? And how many are women? How many are men?
NEWPORT: Well, people keep calling me here at Gallup, reporters, and ask you, who are these swing voters, demographically? Are they young? Are they old? Are they left-handed? Are they red-headed? You know, and we just don't find a lot of differences.
There are 17 percent of them, as I mentioned a minute ago. That's it. This whole campaign is being played out to just about 17 percent of people who, we think at Gallup, could change their mind.
Now, 19 percent of women, 16 percent of men, just not a lot of demographic differences. And actually, Carol, this is 17 percent of the whole population, but we have to throw out those red and blue states. So, actually this whole election is coming down to about 17 percent of voters who live in about 15 states. How is that for really narrowing the focus of this?
COSTELLO: Well, that is really fascinating. Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey, this morning. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK.
We're reading some of your e-mail this morning, and we've got a lot of e-mail in our in-box. And we asked the question: Are the primetime convention speakers representative of the Republican Party? Because they're putting all of their moderate stars in primetime.
This is from Glenn (ph). He says: "It's a big (UNINTELLIGIBLE). McCain is pro-life. Rudy and Arnold are pro-abortion. Cheney is pro- gay." At least we think so. He has a gay daughter, as you know.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: His daughter.
COSTELLO: "And they all agree that America needs to re-elect George W. Bush to the White House that certainly and accurately represents the GOP."
MYERS: OK. And I've got one from Joe in Washington: "You go to a bar at night. You see somebody you like. They buy you a drink, and they listen to everything you have to say. Is that the real them?"
COSTELLO: Very clever.
MYERS: I don't know what you're talking about Joe, but I get it.
COSTELLO: I get it, too. That was very clever.
This is from Sarah (ph): "As a registered Republican, I can tell you today's Republican Party does not represent conservative values. The religious extremists of the Republican Party have lost sight of the Constitution's basic freedoms and protections for citizens. And would someone please explain again how invading Iraq made America safer?"
MYERS: Well, they tried last night to explain that over and over and over.
COSTELLO: This one from Hawaii from Wendy: "In a word, no. And several no, no, no. I do not believe that the key speakers at the RNC are representative of the Republican Party's philosophy. Just compare the planks and the platform with those speakers' professed views. Not a match, not even close."
And, of course, on tap tonight: Laura Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
MYERS: And I thank you for your e-mails today. Literally, there were a couple of hundred. It was so hard to go through them all.
COSTELLO: I know. We had to get them off fast. But thank you. They're always fascinating.
We're going to announce our mug winner in just a few minutes.
This is DAYBREAK for a Tuesday morning.
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COSTELLO: It's mug winner time.
MYERS: Good questions yesterday. Lots of good answers, too.
COSTELLO: One hard question and one easy question, I thought.
MYERS: Yes, because we did ask how many gold medals we got, not how many medals. I got a lot of those total medal numbers. We got 103.
Anyway, what is the statue that the artists receive at the MTV Video and Music Awards? And that's called a Moonman award.
And how many Olympic gold medals did the U.S. win at the 2004 Summer Olympics? That number is 35.
And the winner, the winner, John Gutierrez from Pembroke Pines, Florida. John, you are... COSTELLO: I swear he has won before.
MYERS: Maybe you're thinking of Thelma Gutierrez, our reporter. I don't think they're related.
COSTELLO: Oh.
MYERS: Now your chance to win the question of the day for the mug for tomorrow.
Gas prices have fallen to their lowest level in how many months? And what percentage of women say they are still undecided about their choice for president? Men, no smart-aleck answers.
COSTELLO: Daybreak@CNN.com. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
MYERS: See you.
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