BY TERRY JACKSON

 As the Elian Gonzalez case builds to what could be a climax, the nation's TV talk
 and news shows are swinging through South Florida to tap the core of the
 controversy.

 ABC's Nightline, with host Ted Koppel, arrives Friday at Florida International
 University, just days after MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews wrapped up two
 live shows from the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami and the Habana
 Vieja restaurant in Little Havana.

 And next week, PBS' Washington Week in Review will set up at the Mitchell
 Wolfson Campus of Miami-Dade Community College in downtown Miami.

 What draws these shows is something Miami has in abundance these days: high
 emotion and controversy.

 ``There's a good passion here that makes for good TV debate,'' says Matthews,
 whose two shows were spirited pro-Elian, anti-Castro rallies.

 On Monday night, an overwhelmingly partisan audience of about 400 cheered
 panelists Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican congressman from Miami, and Donato
 Dalrymple, one of the two fishermen who rescued Elian at sea. They hissed at
 U.S. Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., and Joan Brown Campbell of the National
 Council of Churches, who both support returning Elian to Cuba and who appeared
 on the show via satellite links.

 Koppel vows a less boisterous, more issues-oriented show when Nightline
 convenes a 90-minute ``town hall meeting'' at FIU.

 ``I expect our show to be a lot more reserved,'' Koppel said.

 ``We've been doing this kind of thing for 20 years and we've been doing it in a lot
 of volatile places. We want to inform more than inflame.''

 Washington Week in Review, meanwhile, is coming to Miami on April 14 on the
 first stop in a planned series of on-the-road shows.

 Although the decision to visit the Wolfson Campus was made before the recent
 brinkmanship over Elian, host Gwen Ifill is expected to focus on the Elian
 controversy and the impact it may have in the presidential race.

 ``Our timing seems to be perfect,'' says Jeff Bieber, the show's executive
 producer.

 ``We won't focus just on Elian. Miami just is rich in issues -- health care, school
 vouchers, affirmative action. But the Elian story is a phenomenon. We are all
 gripped with this story.''

 There will be room for an audience of about 400 students and invited guests. For
 tickets to the 2 p.m. taping, call 305-237-3624.
 

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald