Late in Tuesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez interviewed 9-year-old actress Fatima Ptacek and wondered: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Ptacek replied: "I definitely want to be the first female president. But I also want to be a lawyer, so I can protect those innocent people." Rodriguez gushed: "Oh, that's good. You sound like President Obama."
Rodriguez then remarked: "So he [Obama] went to Harvard. Where do you want to go to college?" Ptacek predictably responded: "Harvard."
Later in the interview, Rodriguez mentioned a recent television appearance by Ptacek: "And you've gotten to do some really cool things. What was it like to be on Sesame Street with Michelle Obama?" Ptacek declared: "It was an amazing experience, Michelle Obama is very sweet, very down to earth. She's great." Rodriguez asked: "Did she give you any words of wisdom?"
Ptacek revealed that she had written letters back and forth with the First Lady, prompting Rodriguez to excitedly proclaim: "You're pen pals with Mrs. Obama? Well that's a nice perk, isn't it?" Ptacek joked: "It's great. And I look up to her, literally." Rodriguez added: "Yeah, she's very tall. I look up to her, too."
Rodriguez concluded the segment: "Fatima, congrats....It's a pleasure to meet you, good luck....Madame President."
This is not the first time Rodriguez jumped to a Barack Obama comparison. On the April 13 Early Show, the President was the first person on her mind when she remarked to Entertainment Weekly assistant managing editor Dalton Ross that comedian Conan O'Brien would need a "young revolution, you know, a la President Obama" in order for his new TBS cable show to be a success.
On the March 8 broadcast, fellow co-host Erica Hill described a "compassion boom" of volunteerism in America, as her guest, Parade Magazine contributing editor Emily Listfield argued: "There's something we call the 'Obama Effect.' People are responding to the President's call to service."
Here is a transcript of relevant portions of Rodriguez's Tuesday interview with Ptacek:
8:34AM
MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: I know school is super important to you. You're in an academically gifted program and you have high aspirations, right?
PTACEK: Yeah, so I got to keep up. But I'm doing it.
RODRIGUEZ: What do you want to be when you grow up? I heard you want to be the first female president.
PTACEK: Yes, I definitely want to be the first female president. But I also want to be a lawyer, so I can protect those innocent people.
RODRIGUEZ: Oh, that's good. You sound like President Obama. So he went to Harvard. Where do you want to go to college?
PTACEK: Harvard.
RODRIGUEZ: You want to go to Harvard?
PTACEK: Definitely.
...
RODRIGUEZ: And you've gotten to do some really cool things. What was it like to be on Sesame Street with Michelle Obama?
PTACEK: It was an amazing experience, Michelle Obama is very sweet, very down to earth. She's great.
RODRIGUEZ: And she has two daughters. Did she give you any words of wisdom?
PTACEK: No, not really. She was really, really focused on what she had to do because she had to flight out right afterwards.
RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.
PTACEK: But, you know, we got to speak, to get to know each other and sometimes we send letters to each other, say hello.
RODRIGUEZ: You do?
PTACEK: Yeah.
RODRIGUEZ: You're pen pals with Mrs. Obama? Well that's a nice perk, isn't it?
PTACEK: It's great. And I look up to her, literally.
RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, she's very tall. I look up to her, too.
