It appears as though NBC has gone all in by creating yet another musical for the network. Following primetime productions of The Sound of Music and Peter Pan, NBC decided to create a Today musical featuring the cast and crew of the network's morning show. The 30-minute special aired on Monday, December 29 and while it included numerous scenes, one featuring Matt Lauer and his female colleagues was the most bizarre. During a scene in which Lauer was having his pants ironed by an NBC staffer, the NBC anchor turned to Savannah Guthrie, Natalie Morales, Jenna Bush Hager and Tamron Hall opened his suit jacket and told them to “drink it in ladies”
Savannah Guthrie
By Kyle Drennen | December 18, 2014 | 3:28 PM EST
During the five minutes of coverage that Thursday's NBC Today provided on President Obama reopening diplomatic relations with Cuba, only twenty-three seconds was devoted to critics of the controversial move. In addition, the only opponent featured was Republican Senator Marco Rubio, despite Democratic Senator Robert Menendez equally condemning the presidential action.
By Kyle Drennen | December 17, 2014 | 12:19 PM EST
Appearing on Wednesday's NBC Today, Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd spun former Florida Governor Jeb Bush announcing that he was "exploring" the possibility of running for president in 2016 as a boost for the candidacy of Hillary Clinton: "By the way, the big Jeb Bush announcement helps Hillary because it'll scare Democrats and rally them around Hillary even more."
By Kyle Drennen | December 15, 2014 | 12:22 PM EST
On Monday's CBS This Morning, co-host Gayle King claimed that Americans were "divided" over the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques after September 11th. However, the latest CBS News poll she cited "shows that 49% of Americans feel aggressive interrogation techniques like waterboarding are sometimes justified. 36% say they are never justified." The remaining 14% said that it "depends" or "didn't know."
By Kyle Drennen | December 10, 2014 | 12:08 PM EST
Appearing on Wednesday's NBC Today, former CIA Director Michael Hayden went after the network for hyping the so-called "torture report" released by Senate Democrats on Tuesday. After Hayden denounced the partisan report as something that "reads like a prosecutorial screed rather than an historical document," co-host Savannah Guthrie pressed him on what he disagreed with. Hayden replied: "Well, I disagree with the fact that you're claiming it to be news. These topics and subjects were all out there."
By Tim Graham | November 26, 2014 | 11:14 PM EST
On Wednesday's Today, NBC co-host Savannah Guthrie confronted Michael Brown's mother, Leslie McSpadden, as gently as you possibly could about her husband encouraging the latest round of Ferguson rioting. After showing a video of Louis Head screaming "Burn this b--ch down," McSpadden refused to hold him accountable for the aftermath. Instead, she blamed the white governor for the unrest. Guthrie had no pushback beyond "Can you explain what you mean?"
By Kyle Drennen | November 20, 2014 | 10:57 AM EST
On Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie framed President Obama's upcoming executive order granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants as him simply keeping his word: "President Obama will address the nation tonight on the hot-button issue of immigration reform, planning to make good on a progress – a promise to sidestep Congress and take executive action."
By Kyle Drennen | November 6, 2014 | 3:29 PM EST
Of the three network morning shows on Thursday, only NBC's Today highlighted Kentucky Senator Rand Paul's viral social media meme, #HillarysLosers, which pointed out that every Democratic candidate that would-be 2016 presidential contender Hillary Clinton campaigned for in 2014 lost in Tuesday's midterm election.
By Matthew Balan | November 3, 2014 | 5:30 PM EST
NBC's Today and CBS This Morning both led their broadcasts on Monday with euthanasia advocate Brittany Maynard's drug-induced suicide. The morning shows' anchors sang the praises of the "beautiful, brave young woman," as Gayle King labeled Maynard. Charlie Rose touted how the cancer patient's "short and meaningful life is over." Savannah Guthrie gushed, "What a remarkable young woman, and to share it with everyone, obviously, took a lot of courage."
By Kyle Drennen | August 8, 2014 | 2:49 PM EDT
Of the three network morning shows on Friday, only NBC's Today made any mention of President Obama being criticized over his slow response to the terrorist group ISIS taking over Iraq. Co-host Savannah Guthrie raised the issue to chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd: "Listen to the President last night, his reluctance to get into Iraq is palpable. But on the other hand, he's facing criticism, I think you're reporting from all quarters, that maybe he waited too long to do anything and now we see ISIS in an even more dangerous position." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Todd replied: "For months, some could argue for more than a year, there has been pressure on him from the intelligence community, from military commanders, to say, 'You have to do something about ISIS, they're marching'....he's been dragged into this. He doesn't want to do it."
By Kyle Drennen | August 7, 2014 | 2:45 PM EDT
On Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie noted a restaurant in Minnesota that found "a unique way to offset the added expense" of the state hiking its minimum wage: "The Oasis Café is now including a 'minimum wage fee' on bills. You see it right there on the bill. Totals 35 cents....the cafe's owners say this wage hike is going to cost them $10,000 a year, this is their way of protesting it..." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Guthrie touted: "Now complaints are piling up on the cafe's Facebook page. One man says, 'Look, if you can't afford to pay your employees, then you shouldn't be in business.'" Fill-in co-host Carson Daly chimed in: "I'd rather not know. Hike a cost here or there, get your 35 cents and don't tell me."
By Kyle Drennen | August 5, 2014 | 10:27 AM EDT
On Tuesday's Today, Savannah Guthrie had an exclusive interview with Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice, but rather than grill the controversial administration official on a variety of international crises, the NBC host merely tossed softballs. Meanwhile, about thirty minutes later, Guthrie interrogated former Ohio State University marching band director Jonathan Waters on being fired over the group's hazing practices.
Guthrie began her exchange with Rice by not even asking a question, just making a statement that "U.S. officials seem very, very confident" that the West African ebola outbreak could be contained. In her first real question to Rice, Guthrie simply wondered if the Israel-Hamas cease-fire in Gaza "will hold?" Finally, Guthrie worried that the ebola outbreak would overshadow a White House PR event with African leaders. That was the extent of interview.