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Interview with Frank Newport

Aired December 24, 2002 - 14:15   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It is a season of good will and peace on earth, but is that how Americans feel about the situation in Iraq? To get the pulse on public opinion, we turn to Gallup Poll editor-in- chief Frank Newport. He joins us now from Princeton, New Jersey, with the latest results -- hi, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Hello, Kyra. Good to see you again. Unfortunately on this Christmas Eve, some polling I just looked at, showed 60 percent of the American public, that's from a CNN "TIME" poll released a couple days ago, say that war in Iraq will be inevitable. Only about a third say that there is something that can be done to forestall that.

Our basic question that we track month after month, is do you favor or oppose the idea of military action against Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Actually, we have been asking this since way back in 1992. Here is the latest results from November through just Sunday night, and you can see a slight drop there down to 53 percent, and the percent who say, yes, they support the idea.

So not an overwhelming majority by any means, but that support is still there, and a poll after poll, slightly over 50 percent of Americans say, yes, if it comes to that, they would support that type of action.

Also, Kyra, North Korea very much in the news. We went back and looked at our yearly update on opinions of countries. North Korea certainly has a negative image. Look at it here, 65 percent of Americans already a negative opinion of North Korea, but a quarter of Americans, roughly, had a positive image -- see that on the left-hand side. That is actually a slightly more favorable opinion than Americans have of Libya, Iran, and Iraq as you can see on the right- hand side -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What about support of President Bush?

NEWPORT: Well, the last Gallup Poll job approval rating of the year has been taken. As of Sunday, 61 percent is the final number. That's still above average, Kyra, for all U.S. presidents since World War II, but look at the data. The big jump, of course, came in 9/11, 2001. That is the rally effect we have talked so much about. You can see the decline in job approval since that point. The 61 percent on the far right-hand side there is the lowest for the president since 9/11. So it is still OK, but certainly nothing like he had, say this time last year when he had about 86 percent job approval rating -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What about the Lott-Frist power shift? What do Americans think about that?

NEWPORT: Well, we have no polling on Bill Frist of Tennessee. We checked all of our archives. Nobody has asked, except in the state of Tennessee, so we'll look forward to asking about him as the year goes forward. He will be a new player on the national scene.

We know one thing, the GOP really has troubles. This is kind of symptomatic of it. We asked in a couple of surveys, is Trent Lott prejudiced against blacks, just to see what was going on.

Whites 42 to 33 say that yes, he is, so even whites agree, but look at the black American population. Sixty-five to 13, overwhelmingly there is agreement that he was prejudiced. That is, of course, one of the main reasons that Trent Lott was pushed out gently of his position as Senate majority leader to be in January -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Frank. We have got to touch on the economy. It has been a rough couple of weeks, shopping-wise.

NEWPORT: Indeed it has. We were here, I think, telling you a couple of months ago that our projections showed Americans just weren't going to spend all that much, and it looks like that is what is happening. Our consumer confidence data tepid -- lukewarm. Those are the adjectives I would use. Is the economy getting better or getting worse? Well, the red line on top is the percent who say it is still getting worse. That's unfortunate. Numbers down just a little, 50 percent say it is getting worse as of Sunday. Hey, not quite as bad as the 54 percent we saw in early December, but nothing to write home about -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Our Frank Newport with the pulse on America. Thanks, Frank.

NEWPORT: You bet, and happy holidays to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, same to you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 24, 2002 - 14:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It is a season of good will and peace on earth, but is that how Americans feel about the situation in Iraq? To get the pulse on public opinion, we turn to Gallup Poll editor-in- chief Frank Newport. He joins us now from Princeton, New Jersey, with the latest results -- hi, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Hello, Kyra. Good to see you again. Unfortunately on this Christmas Eve, some polling I just looked at, showed 60 percent of the American public, that's from a CNN "TIME" poll released a couple days ago, say that war in Iraq will be inevitable. Only about a third say that there is something that can be done to forestall that.

Our basic question that we track month after month, is do you favor or oppose the idea of military action against Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Actually, we have been asking this since way back in 1992. Here is the latest results from November through just Sunday night, and you can see a slight drop there down to 53 percent, and the percent who say, yes, they support the idea.

So not an overwhelming majority by any means, but that support is still there, and a poll after poll, slightly over 50 percent of Americans say, yes, if it comes to that, they would support that type of action.

Also, Kyra, North Korea very much in the news. We went back and looked at our yearly update on opinions of countries. North Korea certainly has a negative image. Look at it here, 65 percent of Americans already a negative opinion of North Korea, but a quarter of Americans, roughly, had a positive image -- see that on the left-hand side. That is actually a slightly more favorable opinion than Americans have of Libya, Iran, and Iraq as you can see on the right- hand side -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What about support of President Bush?

NEWPORT: Well, the last Gallup Poll job approval rating of the year has been taken. As of Sunday, 61 percent is the final number. That's still above average, Kyra, for all U.S. presidents since World War II, but look at the data. The big jump, of course, came in 9/11, 2001. That is the rally effect we have talked so much about. You can see the decline in job approval since that point. The 61 percent on the far right-hand side there is the lowest for the president since 9/11. So it is still OK, but certainly nothing like he had, say this time last year when he had about 86 percent job approval rating -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What about the Lott-Frist power shift? What do Americans think about that?

NEWPORT: Well, we have no polling on Bill Frist of Tennessee. We checked all of our archives. Nobody has asked, except in the state of Tennessee, so we'll look forward to asking about him as the year goes forward. He will be a new player on the national scene.

We know one thing, the GOP really has troubles. This is kind of symptomatic of it. We asked in a couple of surveys, is Trent Lott prejudiced against blacks, just to see what was going on.

Whites 42 to 33 say that yes, he is, so even whites agree, but look at the black American population. Sixty-five to 13, overwhelmingly there is agreement that he was prejudiced. That is, of course, one of the main reasons that Trent Lott was pushed out gently of his position as Senate majority leader to be in January -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Frank. We have got to touch on the economy. It has been a rough couple of weeks, shopping-wise.

NEWPORT: Indeed it has. We were here, I think, telling you a couple of months ago that our projections showed Americans just weren't going to spend all that much, and it looks like that is what is happening. Our consumer confidence data tepid -- lukewarm. Those are the adjectives I would use. Is the economy getting better or getting worse? Well, the red line on top is the percent who say it is still getting worse. That's unfortunate. Numbers down just a little, 50 percent say it is getting worse as of Sunday. Hey, not quite as bad as the 54 percent we saw in early December, but nothing to write home about -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Our Frank Newport with the pulse on America. Thanks, Frank.

NEWPORT: You bet, and happy holidays to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, same to you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com