After gushing coverage on Monday's NBC Today over Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton "finishing one another's sentences" in a joint interview, a four-minute panel discussion at the top of the morning show's 9 a.m. et hour was devoted to the topic as well, with co-host Tamron Hall declaring: "I was looking at the body language a lot, other than the words, and they leaned in together...both leaning in like, 'I got your back and I'll be voting for you.'" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
News reader Natalie Morales chimed in, "as they said, they have a very warm friendship now," and later added: "it's great when rivals can then go to mending their fences being good friends." Weatherman Al Roker proclaimed: "Well, goes to Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, Team of Rivals." The rest of the cast agreed with the comparison to Abraham Lincoln's cabinet, with Morales concluding: "And if it raises the discourse up higher, to a higher level, even better."
During a news brief at the top of the 8 a.m. et hour, Morales touted Obama and Clinton "presenting a united front" and how they "heaped lavish praise on each other."
Here are excerpts of the January 28 discussion:
9:01AM ET
(...)
WILLIE GEIST: But some people saw this as a tacit endorsement of Hillary Clinton running for president in four years.
TAMRON HALL: I have to tell you, I was looking at the body language a lot, other than the words, and they leaned in together. And having been on air with co-anchors, you can tell, I think, with body language, if people like each other, and they were both leaning in like, "I got your back and I'll be voting for you."
NATALIE MORALES: Well, as they said, they have a very warm friendship now.
(...)
9:03AM ET
MORALES: But it's great when rivals can then go to mending their fences being good friends.
AL ROKER: Well, goes to Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, Team of Rivals.
HALL: Team of Rivals, yeah.
GEIST: Team of Rivals.
HALL: His favorite book.
MORALES: Exactly.
GEIST: So now on to 2016.
MORALES: And if it raises the discourse up higher, to a higher level, even better.
ROKER: They both were on a lot of 3 a.m. calls together.
GEIST: Yes they were, ironically.
