CNN's Moos: Booing Scouts Weren't 'Courteous and Kind' to President Obama

On Tuesday's American Morning, CNN's Jeanne Moos picked up on the viral video of Boy Scouts booing President Obama's taped message to the recent National Jamboree, but got in a light jab at the youth for their behavior: "Booing would seem to go against some of the 12 tenets of Boy Scout Law. A Boy Scout is 'trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind'- wait a minute, 'courteous and kind'?"

The correspondent, known for her light reports for the network, concluded the 6 am Eastern hour with "unique take" on the video, as anchor John Roberts put it. Moos noted that "45,000 Scouts were celebrating the 100th anniversary of Scouting" in the United States at the Jamboree, which was held at the U.S. Army's Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, and that "two months earlier, the White House informed the Scouts that the President had prior commitments."

Moos continued that the "Scouts...booed the President's message, and this 23-second video made its way on to conservative websites, which slammed the President for forsaking the Boy Scouts to appear on 'The View.'" She later gave the Obama administration's explanation for the apparent snub: "The White House says 'The View' had nothing to do with it- that the President was already scheduled to be on the road that day."

The CNN correspondent's jab against the booing culprits, using two of the twelve points of the Scout Law, came near the end of the report. She added that "a statement from the Boy Scouts said the organization does not condone booing." Moos concluded, "If the President's watching this, the jamboree returns in four years."

In the past, Moos has hit subjects from both sides of the political spectrum. On the April 30, 2008 edition of American Morning, the correspondent devoted all but six seconds of a two-and-a-half minute report to "granny" supporters of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. Later that year, during the Democratic National Convention, she highlighted the dancing antics of CNN's liberal pundits.

Just over a year ago, on August 4, 2009, Moos devoted an entire segment to the viral Obama as the Joker image. That December, the correspondent also exposed left-wing rage being directed at independent Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman. Most recently, during a June 22, 2010 report, she refreshingly spotlighted how the President frequently golfed during the oil leak disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

The full transcript of Jeanne Moos's report from Tuesday's American Morning:

KIRAN CHETRY: Meantime, the Boy Scouts are voicing their displeasure with President Obama, claiming that he passed up an invitation to join their big jamboree to appear on 'The View.'

JOHN ROBERTS: No one, though, was prepared for just how emotionally the Scouts would react, and here's Jeanne Moos with her unique take on it.

JEANNE MOOS (voice-over): It's bad enough getting booed, whether you're busted for dog fighting (crowd boos football player Michael Vick), or competing for Miss Universe-

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE ANNOUNCER: USA. (crowd boos)

MOOS: But imagine getting booed by the Boy Scouts. (scouts boo as taped message of President Obama plays, from YouTube.com video) And the person they're booing is the president of the United States.

Actually, what they were booing was President Obama sending a taped message, rather than coming in person to the recent Boy Scout jamboree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: Thanks for showing up!

MOOS: Some 45,000 Scouts were celebrating the 100th anniversary of Scouting. Two months earlier, the White House informed the Scouts that the President had prior commitments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 2: It doesn't really bother me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 3: Disappointed but, I mean- busy man. What can you do?

MOOS: But just a few days after those interviews-

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Scouts just like you-

MOOS: Scouts just like these booed the President's message, and this 23-second video made its way on to conservative websites, which slammed the President for forsaking the Boy Scouts to appear on 'The View.'

OBAMA (from ABC's 'The View'): Thank you!

MOOS: Some figured the booing tape was somehow doctored. (reading from website) 'I don't believe for one second that these 23 seconds of film is accurate.'

MOOS (on-camera): Believe it- some Boy Scouts booed.  (holding three fingers up in Scout Sign) Trust me, 'Scout's honor.'

MOOS (voice-over): The Boy Scout who shot it wouldn't do an interview, but he told us that though he didn't boo, there was a moderate amount of booing going on around him, mostly from Scouts annoyed, not because of the President's policies, but because he didn't show up as six previous presidents have. The White House says 'The View' had nothing to do with it- that the President was already scheduled to be on the road that day.

JON STEWART (from Comedy Central's "The Daily Show"): Look on the bright side. Boy Scouts will finally get their merit badge for crushing disappointment. Look-

MOOS (on-camera): Now, on the face of it, booing would seem to go against some of the 12 tenets of Boy Scout Law.

MOOS (voice-over): A Boy Scout is 'trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind'- wait a minute, 'courteous and kind'? (scouts booing, from YouTube.com video) A statement from the Boy Scouts said the organization does not condone booing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 4: I hope you're watching this!

MOOS: If the President's watching this, the jamboree returns in four years.

OBAMA (from 2009 Inauguration): I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear-

MOOS: That if re-elected, I will try to make it to the next jamboree.

OBAMA: So help me God.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
 
ROBERTS: Some of the Boy Scouts not too happy about getting a taped message.