First up Kelly O'Donnell, in a report about Bush seeking answers in Iraq, noted, 'while he is seeking advice his party is splitting over the war." Then later in the 7am half hour the other O'Donnell, Norah, fawned over Obama: "Barack Obama's first ever visit to New Hampshire ignited excitement!"
The following are the complete reports filed by both O'Donnells on the December 11 Today show with relevant portions highlighted in bold:
Kelly O'Donnell: "Good morning, Meredith. The President is really engaging in a very high profile consultation phase. His aides say it's a chance to hear some free-flowing debate. Today it starts at the State Department and then he goes outside the government inviting experts here to the White House. And while he is seeking advice his party is splitting over the war."
Laura Bush: "Merry Christmas!"
O'Donnell: "A more pleasant duty for the President, holiday celebrations like Sunday's taping of a TV special but in Iraq no silent night. Inside the White House advisers have given a name to the retooled Iraq policy being formulated now. They titled it, 'A new way forward,' a label that mixes Bush brand optimism-"
George W. Bush: "I also believe we're gonna succeed. I believe we'll prevail."
O'Donnell: "-with an uneasy acknowledgement."
Bush: "It's bad in Iraq."
O'Donnell: "As the White House plans for a major pre-Christmas speech to lay out the Bush strategy that may discuss troop levels and diplomacy, the stakes are enormous."
David Gergen: "This is a fateful choice for the President. It's, it's the last train leaving the station."
O'Donnell: "The flurry of meetings is one way for the White House to deflect the Baker-Hamilton commission. The President called the report, 'very important but just one of several reviews.'"
Gergen: "I see lots and lots of talk in coming days, not very much fundamental change."
O'Donnell: "Whatever new course reviving support won't be easy."
O'Donnell: "A Newsweek poll finds that 68 percent of Americans believe the U.S. is losing in Iraq, just 21 percent see progress and the President's own party has fractured. The so-called Republican Realists-"
Sen. Gordon Smith: "And I for one am at the end of my rope."
O'Donnell: "Oregon Senator Gordon Smith-"
Smith: "So let's cut and run or cut and walk but let us fight the war on terror more intelligently than we have."
O'Donnell: "That view versus the hawks. 2008 GOP frontrunner John McCain rejected Baker-Hamilton's call for troop reductions."
Sen. John McCain: "This is a recipe that will lead to sooner or later our defeat in Iraq."
O'Donnell: "Internal opposition with political consequences."
Gergen: "There's gonna be a big split in the party and it's going to leave the party divided going into 2008."
O'Donnell: "And while the President meets with folks at the State Department today, tomorrow's schedule includes a video teleconference with military leaders in Iraq and then Wednesday he goes to the Department of Defense. So this very public session of meetings that advisers say they hope will show that the President wants to be involved in a very healthy debate. Matt."
Ann Curry: "The nation's first presidential primary is still more than a year away but on Sunday one potential candidate got a lot of attention. NBC's Norah O'Donnell is in Washington with more on this story. Norah, good morning."
Norah O'Donnell: "Good morning, Ann. Well Barack Obama said he was surprised by how quickly he's become the new star of the Democratic Party but he is going to make clear his intentions early next year, likely in January, if he's running for President. Barack Obama's first ever visit to New Hampshire ignited excitement."
Sen. Barack Obama: "People are very hungry for something new."
O'Donnell: "Everywhere he went he was mobbed by supporters-"
[Man handing cell phone to Obama: "His name is Pat."]
O'Donnell: "-a crush of cameras and thousands of Democratic activists."
Obama: "Obviously it's flattering to get a lot of attention although I must say it's baffling particularly to my wife."
O'Donnell: "His popularity rising, in part, because he's an anti-war Democrat."
Obama: "-start getting combat troops out."
O'Donnell: "Obama would be the first black president and for now he's stolen the spotlight from the early frontrunner Senator Clinton who would be the first female president."
John Harwood: "She's watching and waiting and her team is a little chagrined by how much Obama has taken over the, taken over the landscape."
O'Donnell: "But his biggest challenge may be his political inexperience, especially when it comes to national security."
Harwood: "He is relatively untested, just two years in Washington. That doesn't mean it's impossible for him to break through but that's the hurdle he's got to overcome."
O'Donnell: "Now as for Senator Clinton she spent the weekend making more phone calls to supporters. She's invited key Democrats from Iowa and New Hampshire to dinner this week in Washington and she's re-releasing It Takes A Village in paperback and one senior adviser says she's gonna make clear her plans early next year as well. Ann."
