In an interview with actress Emily Blunt on Thursday’s NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie downplayed the celebrity’s recent swipe at Republicans with an anti-American joke: “You recently became an American citizen....You made a joke the other day, saying you watched the Republican debate and you joked, ‘What was I thinking?’ And some people took that the wrong way.”
Savannah Guthrie
Despite a strong debate performance Wednesday night, on Thursday’s NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie lectured Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina on her business record: “I know you have gotten into the reasons for your dismissal from Hewlett-Packard....in politics, and you know this well, if you're explaining, you’re losing.”
In what was an otherwise softball interview with Chelsea Clinton on Tuesday’s NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie did briefly press the former first daughter (and former NBC correspondent) on Hillary Clinton’s struggling presidential campaign: “You are one of her most trusted advisers as well as her daughter....And there was a recent poll that was really striking because it asked voters what is a word you associate with Hillary Clinton... ‘dishonest,’ ‘untrustworthy,’ ‘liar.’ Why do you think that is? What's not getting through, in your mind?”
On Thursday, NBC’s Today led with breaking news that Hillary Clinton staffer Bryan Pagliano would invoke the Fifth Amendment and not testify to the House Benghazi Committee about setting up the former Secretary of State’s private e-mail server. Savannah Guthrie wondered: “Is there something to hide? And what does it mean for the Clinton campaign?” Today devoted 6 minutes, 20 seconds to Clinton’s e-mail scandal. By contrast, ABC and CBS could each only muster less than a minute of coverage to the story.
Ahead of Pope Francis’s upcoming visit to the U.S., Wednesday’s NBC Today touted a new Pew Research Center poll finding that a minority of Catholics do not believe abortion to be a sin. Willie Geist used the Pope adjusting the process of forgiving abortion as a segue: “...the Vatican announced priests may now forgive women who’ve had abortions....The Pope isn't alone when it comes to a bit of a change of heart.” Geist proclaimed “a third of Catholics say terminating a pregnancy is not a sin.”
Introducing a segment on Wednesday’s NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie announced: “We’re back now at 7:43 with the controversial tweet that has led to a headline-making suspension at ESPN.” Fellow co-host Willie Geist declared: “Former big league ace pitcher and current baseball analyst Curt Schilling has a history of pushing boundaries on social media. But his bosses say this time Schilling went too far.”
While all three network morning shows covered Hillary Clinton’s ongoing e-mail scandal on Wednesday, the broadcasts focused on the Democratic front-runner being “fed up” with controversy and “defiant” in her response to legitimate questions from the press.
While all three network morning shows covered the latest development in the Clinton e-mail scandal on Tuesday – that over 300 e-mails are being reviewed for classified material – all three broadcasts also touted the Clinton campaign defense that the former secretary of state “never sent or received any e-mails that were marked classified at the time.”
On Monday, NBC’s Today was the only network morning show to cover a new study showing a strong link between religious faith and lasting happiness. Co-host Savannah Guthrie informed viewers: “According to a new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology, joining a religious group does more for someone’s sustained happiness than other forms of social participation.”
The bombshell news that Hillary Clinton will finally turn over her private e-mail server, as well as the confirmation that her electronic communications as Secretary of State included top secret material, warranted a mere nine and half minutes on Wednesday's network morning shows. This is out of a combined eight hours on NBC, CBS and ABC. ABC's Good Morning America offered the least, a scant one minute and 40 seconds. CBS This Morning allowed three minutes and 38 seconds, yet the show's hosts investigated Trump and his latest comments for four minutes and 55 seconds.
Appearing on NBC’s Today on Wednesday, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus predicted GOP contenders would be united in their criticism of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in Thursday’s first primary debate. Savannah Guthrie quickly tried to downplay the breaking news that the FBI would be investigating Clinton’s private e-mail server: “In fact, the FBI, according to a report in The Washington Post, is looking into the set-up of her e-mail server. We're going to get a report on that in a moment. They are not looking into Hillary Clinton herself.”
On Wednesday, the hosts of NBC’s Today cheered the network’s decision to hire former White House chef – and husband of left-wing MSNBC host AlexWagner – Sam Kass. Co-host Savannah Guthrie gushed: “...we’ve got an exciting announcement. You guys remember Sam Kass, of course he’s the former assistant White House chef, executive director of the First Lady's Let's Move campaign, and nutrition advisor to the President....He is becoming an NBC News senior food analyst.”
