JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: President bush has avoided using the word "hostages" when describing the Americans being held by China. But the latest CNN/"USA Today" Gallup Poll finds that a majority of Americans say that's exactly what they are. Gallup editor Frank Newport joins us now. Frank, what did you find?</s>FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Indeed, Joie. Well over half of the American public says that hostages does describe the crew as they're being held now in Chinese territory. Also, apropos the question that a viewer just had that you put on the screen -- Americans strongly do not feel that the Americans are at fault in the plane incident. This is what we asked about here in our most recent poll: "Was the United States at fault when the reconnaissance plane crashed with the Chinese fighter jet?" Only 13 percent say yes, those who have an opinion. Two-thirds of Americans say, no, the United States is not at fault. That leads, of course, to apology, "Should the U.S. apologize?" And you can see here there's a little more mixed feeling; 41 percent of Americans say yes, but the majority of those who have taken a vote, 54 percent of the American public says no, the United States should not apologize. Now, one of the reasons this is high, is because there are some big differences by gender. Women are much more like to say "apologize" than men. And look at the age differences! Younger Americans much more likely to say "go ahead and apologize." Older Americans, perhaps remembering the Cold War, much more like to say, "don't apologize at this time." One more thing, Joie. In terms of President Bush, so far doing all right in the eyes of the public. Sixty-one percent say they approve of the way Bush is handling the situation, and that's as of Sunday night. Joie, that's where the public stands.</s>CHEN: Thank you, Frank. Frank Newport from the Gallup Poll with us today.
Gallup Poll Tracks Americans' Sentiment About Standoff With China