During an inspirational story on Monday’s NBC Today about the first team of refugees to compete in the Olympics, co-host Matt Lauer couldn’t resist the chance to take a dig a Republican nominee Donald Trump: “The historic first by the IOC [International Olympic Committee] comes at a critical time when backlash against refugees has sparked fears in Europe, and here in the United States.”
A sound bite followed of Trump telling supporters: “If I win, they’re going back. They’re going back. I'm telling you. They’re going back.” Lauer didn’t bother to explain that Republicans specifically objected to refugees from Syria given obvious concerns about terrorism.
The morning show host concluded: “In the middle of such uncertainty, these ten athletes hope to bring inspiration to those like them without a flag to call their own.”
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Here is a full transcript of the August 8 segment:
8:45 AM ET
MATT LAUER: We're talking about a group of athletes that really inspired a lot of people. They are ten athletes from all around the world and they are called the refugee athletes because there is so much difficulty in their home countries that they had to flee. Take a look at what happened.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Making History, Creating Hope; Refugee Athletes Overcome Incredible Odds]
From adversity to admiration, their struggles earning them a standing ovation at the opening ceremony. And their talents already achieving victories. It's history in the form of hope. Ten athletes with ten incredible stories of survival, together making an Olympic first. They are the refugee Olympic team.
YUSRA MARDINI: When I’m in the water, I forget about everything. I feel like it's my home.
LAUER: Among the world's best in running, swimming, and judo. They’ve overcome odds and obstacles to realize their Olympic dream.
[INAUDIBLE SOUND BITE FROM RUNNER YIECH PUR BIEL]
Rose Lokonyen lives in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, it is the largest such camp in the world, with about the same population as Salt Lake City, Utah. It's been home to her for over 13 years, since she was just nine years old.
ROSE LOKONYEN: It was 2002 when the war started and we ran away from our country.
LAUER: She’ll be running in the 800 meters, an event she trained for without the money to afford shoes.
LOKONYEN: We compete among the refugees. Some of us we ran without shoes, like me I was running barefoot.
LAUER: Others, like 18-year-old Yusra Mardini, are from war-torn Syria. When her family's boat lost power while fleeing to the haven of Greece, Mardini and her sister jumped in the water and spent three hours pushing it to shore.
MARDINI: I was just thinking, me and my sister, that it would be a real shame for us because we are swimmers and in the end we will die in the sea. It was my biggest fear that, oh, I got – yeah, I swam this whole life and then I will be drowned here?
LAUER: The historic first by the IOC comes at a critical time when backlash against refugees has sparked fears in Europe, and here in the United States.
DONALD TRUMP: If I win, they’re going back. They’re going back. I'm telling you. They’re going back.
LAUER: And when the government of Kenya has decided to close several of its refugee camps, including Kakuma, later this year, against the protests of many humanitarian groups. In the middle of such uncertainty, these ten athletes hope to bring inspiration to those like them without a flag to call their own.
MARDINI: I might be the face of the refugees, so a lot of people hoping that they will come out from what they have, they will find a hope from the war or from why they came here. I think all of them have dreams like I do.
LAUER: It was so nice when we were doing the opening ceremony on Friday night, and we stopped before they marched in, and the roar from that crowd was just incredible.
HODA KOTB: Yeah, you’d think – I think they were second to Brazil. I mean, and it was a spontaneous, remember, a standing O? The whole place got up, yeah.
LAUER: Really nice.
KOTB: It was beautiful.
