I just watched a newsclip on CNN of reporters interviewing Barack Obama's paternal grandmother in Kenya. She said he was a good listener. She spoke in the Kenyan language, through an interpreter. Obama's uncle in Kenya showed a picture of Obama's first visit to Kenya and his "ceremonial Kenyan home" after his father died in a car accident in 1982. [Update 1/8: Here's the video.]

The Chicago Tribune reported Obama's parents met and married while they were students at the University of Hawaii. He was born six months after their marriage. They separated when he was three years old. His father left Hawaii for Harvard and his mother remarried when he was five years old. He didn't see his father again until he was ten, and then for a brief visit.

In[his] memoir, Obama describes his experiences growing up in his mother's American middle class family. His knowledge about his African father, who returned once for a brief visit in 1971, came mainly through family stories and photographs.

So how well does Obama's "granny" know him, do they speak a language in common for her to know he's a good listener, and was it really worth CNN's time to conduct this visit and our's to watch it?

Update: A commenter below explains what CNN should have -- that Obama went and stayed with his grandmother to learn about his roots and his sister interpreted. That makes her comment about his being a good listener at least make sense. See below: