Daniel Cook would rather be a scientist
CTV political correspondent Daniel Cook may have a knack for asking tough questions, but that doesn't mean he's found his calling as a journalist -- the eight-year-old star reporter says he'd rather be a paleontologist when he grows up. The star of the children's show This is Daniel Cook has spent the last couple weeks covering the election from the eyes of a child, filing weekly reports for Newsnet's Countdown with Mike Duffy.
In an interview Thursday with Canada AM, Cook said he's enjoyed interviewing politicians like Prime Minister Paul Martin and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, but hopes to become a paleontologist, a video-game designer or even prime minister.
"And if I can't get those ones, I think I'll be a reporter for CTV," said Cook, who has not taken his role lightly, asking some of the election campaign's more unique questions.
The inquisitive Cook even stumped Harper during their interview by asking which of his opponents he would vote for if he had to choose.
"I think I would jump off a tall building before I did that," replied the surprised Tory leader. "That's a really tough question."
In Thursday's interview with Martin, Cook and the Prime Minister discuss goals and achievements over frothy chocolate milkshakes.
"When I was younger, I wanted to be a great football player, but I wasn't," Martin says, responding to a question about dreams that haven't come true. "And then I wanted to be a great basketball player, and I wasn't.
"Life, I think, is meant to have dreams. I think you've got to have them, but we don't always achieve them. Can I have another sip?"
Cook -- who attends interviews dressed in a sharp suit jacket -- told Canada AM he usually knows just what he wants to ask, so he didn't need to prepare questions before heading into the Martin interview.
"I didn't write them down, but I mostly thought of some and then I asked him," he said.
While Cook isn't talking about a future in journalism, he already has some strong ideas for his political platform -- if he could make laws in Canada, the young animal lover says the first thing he would do is to ban all hunting.
Daniel Cook's full interview with Prime Minister Paul Martin will appear on CTV Newsnet's Countdown with Mike Duffy at 8 p.m. Thursday.