NEWS LITE : FARM AID RAISES FUNDS IN VIRGINIA.

A sold-out crowd of 23,000 people listened to Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and other performers Sunday at Farm Aid '99 in Gainesville, Va.

The all-day event, the latest in a series of fund-raisers for farmers that started in 1985, comes at a time when many East Coast growers are facing a severe drought.

Glenda Yoder, Farm Aid associate director, said there was no specific fund-raising goal for this year's event. ``The focus is very much on the awareness as well,'' she said.

The concert at Nissan Pavilion was broadcast on cable's Country Music Television.

Since it began, Farm Aid has given $14.5 million to more than 100 farm organizations, churches and service groups in 44 states. One recipient was the Virginia Council of Churches, which is distributing $20,000 to Virginia farmers hit hard by the drought.

Jim McDonald, the council's general minister, said the group already has given money to farmers from Pulaski in the southwest mountains to Manassas in northern Virginia. The variety of musicians - including Barenaked Ladies, the Dave Matthews Band, Deana Carter and Farm Aid founders Nelson, Mellencamp and Neil Young - drew an eclectic crowd - aging men wearing cowboy hats mixed with youngsters with bellybutton rings.

Ailing cardinal makes comeback to the pulpit

In his first public appearance since doctors removed a small tumor from his brain, Cardinal John O'Connor on Sunday nimbly climbed six steep steps to the pulpit of St. Patrick's Cathedral, where he delivered a 20-minute homily that blended a serious message about helping those ``who have the least'' with gracious humor about his health.

``This has been a truly marvelous funeral,'' he said, relishing the warm applause from about 2,500 people who filled the Cathedral. O'Connor, 79, did not offer details about the type of tumor discovered on his brain.

ABC hoping morning glitter turns into gold

From behind the flashing lights and custom-made windows of a new studio jutting 20 feet into Times Square, ``Good Morning America'' anchors Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer can see just what they're up against.

A giant Astrovision screen a block in front of them beams their competition: NBC's top-rated ``Today'' show.

Over Gibson's right shoulder, a viewer can spot the Viacom building where, theoretically, the company that just bought CBS can hang a banner advertising the Tiffany network's soon-to-premiere ``Early Show.''

``They wouldn't think of it, would they?'' Gibson asked with a smile.

Better believe it, Charlie. This is war. Monday's debut of ABC's glitzy studio is the latest evidence of how morning news shows have become network television's lucrative new battleground.

``It is the place to be,'' said CBS's Jane Clayson. ``The competition is fierce.''

CBS last week chose Clayson, a former ABC News correspondent, to be Bryant Gumbel's new partner in the morning. Gumbel, the former ``Today'' host, was lured back to morning TV after CBS promised to spend up to $30 million to build its own storefront studio overlooking New York's Central Park. The ``Early Show'' bows on Nov. 1.

ABC's new studio, complete with a 32-foot-high outdoor jumbo TV screen and a replica of a New York City subway station, is evidence it won't back down. ABC isn't saying how much was spent on the construction.

Andrew Heyward, CBS News president, said morning viewers want an update on what happened overnight, personalities they can feel comfortable with and information useful to their lives.

``You fail to do any of these things at your own peril,'' he said.

News Lite is compiled from Daily News staff and wire reports

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2 photos

Photo: (1) Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer are all smiles on the big-dollar set of ``Good Morning America.''

Ida Mae Astute/ABC

(2) Bening