Can someone explain this to me?

The Journalist was referring to the German language.

Seems to me a fuss over nothing. The question put to the boy was unclear and too much is being made of his confused response. Poor journalism needs sensationalism.. so if they can imply something that people might read about they will write it.

German means the language, or from Germany (referring to a person or a thing).

I'm surprised that anyone over the age of 12 could not know that.

EDIT: They were asking about his last name (Bieber) and its origin. i.e. if the word "basketball" translated into German is "bieber". They may have been having a joke.

He's asking if the word Beiber is the German word for basketball. That is, in Germany, if someone said the word Beiber, it would mean the same to a German person as the word basketball would mean to an English speaking person.