'Our whole show is different': 'Today' anchors Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie reflect on historic present

A new "Today" has arrived amid a quest for a different tomorrow. 

Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie are currently co-anchoring NBC's morning show with miles between them as the world grapples with a global pandemic and a fight for racial equality following the death of George Floyd in police custody on May 25. 

How are they handling anchoring days of history-making news while being physically separated as a result of COVID-19? 

Kotb, 55, appears from Studio 1A at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan. Guthrie, 48, began working from her residence a few hours away in upstate New York in March, when she experienced a mild sore throat and runny nose. "There may come a time where maybe I’ll come in for part of the week, but I don’t want to be gone so long that I don’t see my kids for five days," she says. 

Both are unsure of when they'll be reunited in person. 

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Guthrie acknowledges "our whole show is different" right now and "essentially geared toward" the health crisis and societal upheaval after the death of Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than 8 minutes. 

Both recognize how momentous the present is. 

"There’s been a light that has sort of been just shining on the shadows of things that needed to be exposed for a long time," says Kotb. "I feel a wave in the country that I haven’t felt before ever, and it struck me."

"Think about all the police reform everyone’s talking about – the Republicans are talking about it, the Democrats are talking about it," she adds. "They’re banning chokeholds. ... People are listening, and people are open to change." 

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"I feel like we’re in the middle of two moments that we’re going to be reading about in the history books," says Guthrie. "The George Floyd case absolutely feels like a sea change. It feels different to people who have covered these issues for many, many years."

Despite their physical distance, Guthrie says the "Today" hosts still feel connected. 

"We’ve always felt like a family," she says. "It feels like that more than ever. Even though we do a Virtual Plaza, and Hoda and I are across the miles, we still feel really close, maybe we feel closer. When times get tough, good families pull together, and I feel like that’s what we’re trying really hard to do."

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In the battle against racial injustice, Guthrie is "looking hard in myself" and encouraging people to "listen and let’s all push a little further."

She sees the present as "a moment of reflection ... It takes courage to reflect and courage to be honest with yourself, and it takes courage for the country to be honest with itself, and I hope that that’s what ultimately comes of this: honesty and change." 

Kotb, like many others, has turned to books amid the call for change. "I’m talking to Joel (Schiffman, her fiancé) all the time, we’re talking to friends," she says. "I (say), ‘Joel, don’t you want to be better?’ I want to be better, and I feel like we all can be."

Guthrie says Floyd has been a topic in 5-year-old daughter Vale's kindergarten class, and that mother and daughter have had conversations.

"You want to talk to them about it in a way that is not too scary for their age to handle," says the mom of two, "but they can understand more than we think."

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"It's an eye-opening experience because when Vale and I were talking and talking about how George Floyd was treated, we use the words fair and unfair because those are words that she understands," she says.

Guthrie says they also talk about the intended role of the police. "But then you realize that’s a conversation that again I’m privileged to have," she says. "A black mother with a black child might not be able to say those same things, and that’s the point. And those are some of the realizations that are being had around the country."

While Kotb hasn't yet had that conversation with her daughters because of their young ages – Haley is 3 and Hope is 1 – she spoke with kids about racism and Black Lives Matter for the June 8 episode of "Today." The segment moved her.

The children present were "10, 11, 12 and the oldest was 15," she recalls. They advised diversifying friendships: "They all said the same thing: Make your circle bigger. Just widen your circle out, and then you’ll understand."

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Kotb was visibly touched on a "Today" episode in March, after interviewing New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who, with his wife Brittany, pledged $5 million for coronavirus relief in Louisiana. Kotb, who previously worked for CBS affiliate WWL in the Big Easy, broke down after telling Brees, "Drew, we love ya." 

More recently, Brees, whom Kotb has known for years, has received heat for remarks he made critical of athletes who kneel in protest during the national anthem. He has since apologized and addressed President Donald Trump in an Instagram post to say he now understands the protest done at games "is not an issue about the American flag."

Kotb says she and Brees have had "a couple of kind of private conversations." 

"Some people misstep and then some people right the ship," she says. "So, I’m just curious to see how it will all be received going forward. I’ve known him for many, many, many years, and I think you judge somebody based on their life, as opposed to one final moment."

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