"ABC's World News on Wednesday night used limited news time to feature a silly piece with soundbites from naive kids around the world sputtering beauty pageant-like simplicities about how President Barack Obama will bring "world peace" and inspires them to say "yes, we can!" Reporter Jim Sciutto touted how "we heard children around the world expressing hope and fascination with the new American President."
Transcript of the story on the Wednesday, January 21 World News on ABC:
CHARLES GIBSON: Worldwide reaction to Barack Obama: In the Middle East, many newspapers are taking note of the President reaching out to Muslims in his inaugural address, promising new relations. The headline of one Palestinian daily paper read: "Obama is Committed to Open New Page with Muslim World." And closer to home, Cuban President Raul Castro today said he wishes President Obama good luck, and that Obama, quote, "seems like a good guy." But it is not only adults and world leaders who have something to say about President Obama. Children around the world are welcoming him and weighing in with their reactions and their advice. Our Jim Sciutto has been sampling kids' reaction from around the world.
BOY IN RUSSIA: Peace, democracy and friendship.
BOY IN INDONESIA: Freedom and hope.
GIRL IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: He's interested in giving peace to the world and stopping wars.
JIM SCIUTTO: From the Far East-
GROUP OF CHILDREN SHOUTING: Hello, Mr. Obama!
SCIUTTO: -to the Middle East-
SCIUTTO: Do you place a lot of hope in him?
BOY IN ISRAEL: Yes, I do.
SCIUTTO: -from his childhood school in Indonesia-
GIRL IN INDONESIA: It's amazing.
BOY IN INDONESIA: He's going to change the world and make world peace.
SCIUTTO: -to his father's home in Kenya-
GIRL IN KENYA: He's prestigious, peaceful, and he wants to change America.
SCIUTTO: -we heard children around the world expressing hope and fascination with the new American President.
GIRL FROM THE PALESTINIAN WEST BANK: No one's better than anyone. We're all the same. We shouldn't discriminate anyone.
SCIUTTO: No matter where they're from or how young they are, children here all have something to say about Barack Obama, and some advice to give. In Israel and Gaza, it's hope he'll bring lasting peace. "We hope he will be fair to the Palestinian people," he said, "and prevent Israel from attacking us." And in Pakistan, hope for an American President with a Muslim father.
BOY IN PAKISTAN: He can make the citizens of the U.S. recognize that we, not all Muslims are terrorists and not all terrorists are Muslims.
SCIUTTO: We found children in many countries are aware of his promise to withdraw troops from Iraq
GIRL IN FRANCE: I think that he may stop the war in Iraq. At least I hope he will.
SCIUTTO: And wherever we went, children spoke about how Obama's inauguration renewed their hope in the American dream.
BOY IN PALESTINIAN WEST BANK: This thing shows that America is the land where everybody has the chance to be something important.
SCIUTTO: That familiar campaign theme has gone global.
GIRL IN SOUTH KOREA: Yes, we can.
BOY IN ITALY: Yes, we can.
BARACK OBAMA: Yes, we can.
GIRL IN FRANCE: Yes, we can.
SCIUTTO: Jim Sciutto, ABC News.
"Good Morning America on Wednesday featured video messages from young children to Barack Obama. GMA news anchor Chris Cuomo asserted that the kids, ranging in age from seven to 17, had "strong opinion[s]." Yet, every single one of these youths spouted the type of liberal propaganda usually reserved for people like Keith Olbermann and not one conservative voice was featured."
A transcript of the January 21 segment, which aired at 8:45am:
CHRIS CUOMO: You know, whenever we talk about change in politics, generally leads to a discussion about the next generation. About the kids.
SAM CHAMPION: Yeah, yeah. And you don't have to be- this is proof, though. You don't have to be old enough to vote to have a very strong opinion. And you found some folks who did.
CUOMO: Absolutely. Kids from seven to 17, all across the country. So, we asked them, what do you think about what's happened? And what advice do they have for their new president?
FEMALE CHILD #1: I think that the fact that America voted you to be president shows that we needed a change.
MALE CHILD #1: Mr. Obama, please, like, make all the trees not die because we all need oxygen to breathe.
FEMALE CHILD #2: When we were voting, lots and lots of people didn't have very much money. So, you wanted to give some money to other people. And I thought it was a great idea.
MALE CHILD #2: Can you please lower our taxes? And how come people who earn millions of dollars pay less taxes than us middle-class people?
FEMALE CHILD #3: You made it cool to be smart. And someone once said that humans will do anything to avoid thinking. And you have really inspired this generation to want to think. And to want to get involved politically.
FEMALE CHILD #4: A lot of times when I was younger, everyone used to say, "Oh, someday, you'll become president. And you'll live in the White House." Well, when you won, right then and there, when you won the election, I knew, wow. Since he can do it, I know I can do it.
MALE CHILD #3: [Note, child is about six years old]: All this time, I've been alive, I've been having white presidents. And I think now, it's- this is my chance to have a black president.
FEMALE CHILD #5: I would like it if you could change the laws of recycling, so we can help the Earth
MALE CHILD #4: My school needs more healthy food, like broccoli and cheese.
MALE CHILD #5: I have some tips to help you become president. First, to make great laws. Second, to help poor people. Third is to make better jobs.
MALE CHILD #6: Could you make the hybrid cars a little more cheaper so we could buy them? Because they don't pollute that much. And they pollute less.
FEMALE CHILD #6: I want you to make people stop littering because our Earth is dying.
MALE CHILD #7: Stop the wars. And- because more people die. And it's just- they don't want to die. They just die. But they don't want to die.
FEMALE CHILD #7: I would also like you to give all the funds and science to the research for Type 1 diabetes because I'm a Type 1 diabetic. And we really need a cure.
FEMALE CHILD #8: Even though I'm only 16, I won't be directly affected by anything until, maybe, another two years. But by the time I get to 18, I'm going to be set.
FEMALE CHILD #9: I'll be praying for you and Joe Biden and your success. And I wish you both the very best. And I think you should get a golden retriever.
CUOMO: And I think they should get both of those dogs. A lot of talk about the environment from the kids.
CHAMPION: Yeah. You heard global warming and trees and recycling. That's great. That's great.
CUOMO: The best gift for any leader is to be able to spark the imagination of the people. If you can do that with the kids, that's good to be sure.
CHAMPION: And to hear them say being smart is cool. Gosh, that's so great to hear.
CUOMO: Yeah. It's all about possibilities now. We're going to have to see where it goes.
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