Gibson on Pelosi, 'Ultimate in Multitasking: Taking Care of the Children and the Country'

By Brent Baker | January 04, 2007 | 23:44

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ABC anchor Charles Gibson opened Thursday's World News by trumpeting how, video of Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the House floor holding a baby while she talked to colleagues, demonstrated “the ultimate in multitasking: Taking care of the children and the country.” Seconds earlier Gibson had hailed how “for the first time in the 218-year history of the Congress, a woman was voted by her colleagues to be Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi, Democrat from California, took the gavel.” He then moved to tout what he described as “a picture perhaps even more symbolic, the new Speaker was on the floor for a time, holding her 6-year-old grandson, all the while giving directions on how events were to proceed. It seemed the ultimate in multitasking: Taking care of the children and the country.” In fact, it was clearly a six-month old, not a six-year old.

Video clip (50 seconds): Real (1.5 MB) or Windows Media (1.7 MB), plus MP3 audio (290 KB)

Transcript in full of how Gibson, with the U.S. Capitol in the background as he stood outdoors, opened the January 4 World News on ABC (matches video/audio clip):

“Good evening from Capitol Hill. Well, it is a hallmark of this American democracy that power transfers peacefully. People expect it, as a matter of course. And it happened again here on Capitol Hill today as Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate. This time, however, it was different. Still peaceful, to be sure. But this time, for the first time in the 218-year history of the Congress, a woman was voted by her colleagues to be Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi, Democrat from California, took the gavel.

“But in a picture perhaps even more symbolic, the new Speaker was on the floor for a time, holding her 6-year-old grandson, all the while giving directions on how events were to proceed. It seemed the ultimate in multitasking: Taking care of the children and the country. Here's our senior political correspondent, Jake Tapper.”