On Tuesday's NBC Today, the hosts of the morning show
applauded Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine promoting the proposed
immigration bill by addressing the Senate in Spanish. Co-host Savannah
Guthrie proclaimed: "...something happened on the Senate floor on
Tuesday that apparently has never happened before in history....Tim
Kaine delivering an entire speech in Spanish in support of the
immigration reform bill..." [Listen to the audio [1]]
Guthrie noted some mixed reaction: "This was to the delight of some
Hispanic civil rights groups. But one of those groups actually said they
wanted the immigration debate to be something that everyone could
understand, thought it should be in English." However, she happily
concluded: "Nevertheless, it's hard to get a first these days,
especially in the U.S. Senate. This apparently was one."
Fellow co-host Matt Lauer enthusiastically declared: "He got a lot of
people's attention." News reader Natalie Morales chimed in: "High marks
for his Spanish, too." Lauer wondered: "Was it good? I was going to ask
you that." Morales announced: "His Spanish, yeah, perfect grammar."
Weatherman Al Roker joined in the praise: "And his accent sounded pretty good." Morales remarked: "The accent, muy bueno."
Here is a full transcript of the June 12 discussion:
8:13AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Meantime, trending in The New York Times [2], something happened on the Senate floor on Tuesday that apparently has never happened before in history.
[CLIP OF TIM KAINE, SEN. D-VA, SPEAKING SPANISH]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: En Espanol, Por Favor; Senator's Speech Marks First for Senate]
GUTHRIE: That is Democrat Virginia Senator Tim Kaine delivering an entire speech in Spanish in support of the immigration reform bill which is beginning to be debated. Cain said he thought it would be effective to explain the bill in Spanish. This was to the delight of some Hispanic civil rights groups. But one of those groups actually said they wanted the immigration debate to be something that everyone could understand, thought it should be in English. But nevertheless, it's hard to get a first these days, especially in the U.S. Senate. This apparently was one.
MATT LAUER: He got a lot of people's attention.
NATALIE MORALES: High marks for his Spanish, too.
LAUER: Was it good? I was going to ask you that.
MORALES: His Spanish, yeah, perfect grammar.
GUTHRIE: Excellente?
AL ROKER: And his accent sounded pretty good.
MORALES: The accent, muy bueno.
ROKER: There you go.
LAUER: Okay, good.
