At the top of the 9 a.m. et hour on Thursday's NBC Today, the
morning show cast devoted a four-minute panel discussion to Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton getting emotional during her congressional
testimony on Wednesday. News reader Natalie Morales gushed: "She
was speaking passionately about, you know, that heat of the moment. And
also, you know, I think she just loved those people [who died in
Benghazi]. So that was true emotion." [Listen to the audio [1]]
Co-host Savannah Guthrie observed: "I don't know if there's as much a
stigma anymore from public figures crying from time-to-time. I mean,
this is not somebody who is crying all the time. We've seen her well up
in the past. I think this is probably the most emotional we've ever seen
her." Morales proclaimed: "Right, she's a strong leader."
Fellow co-host Willie Geist explained: "I don't think it's a problem
when it comes from a place of sincerity. When it looks political and
calculated, that's where you run into trouble..." After some
conversation about people showing false emotion, Morales concluded:
"People know when it's real and when it's not real. And I think in
Hillary Clinton's case, it was very much real."
At the top of the broadcast, correspondent Andrea Mitchell asserted that Clinton had endured a "hostile interrogation" [2] by congressional Republicans as she testified.
Here is a transcript of the January 24 exchange:
9:00AM ET
WILLIE
GEIST: Let's get right to Today's Take 3. Our Take 1, Hillary Clinton
up on Capitol Hill yesterday. She was testifying before a Senate panel
about the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, September 11th of this year. It
was a highly-charged afternoon, a lot of emotion on both sides, from the
questioners and also from Secretary Clinton herself. Let's watch.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Hillary Gets Emotional]
HILLARY CLINTON: I stood next to President Obama as the Marines carried
those flag-draped caskets off the plane at Andrews. I put my arms
around the mothers and fathers, the sisters and brothers, the sons and
daughters, and wives left alone to raise their children.
GEIST: So obviously, getting emotional there, talking about the
families and the people who didn't come home, the four of them. Also
fired up at certain times. Some people have zeroed in on the emotion,
probably should be more focused on the content of the hearings, but
people asking the question not just of Hillary Clinton, but of public
figures, what it means to cry in public, whether or not that's a good
idea.
NATALIE MORALES: Well, obviously this is very personal, as she said.
You know, these are people that she knew well. And you know, I think
it's a tough position to be in. She was speaking passionately about, you
know, that heat of the moment. And also, you know, I think she just
loved those people. So that was true emotion. It's hard not to.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: I don't know if there's as much a stigma anymore from
public figures crying from time-to-time. I mean, this is not somebody
who is crying all the time. We've seen her well up in the past.
MORALES: Right, she's a strong leader.
GUTHRIE: I think this is probably the most emotional we've ever seen
her. John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, has been known to cry and
get emotional quite a bit. I don't know if it's – I think it used to be
more of an issue when somebody would show that kind of emotion.
AL ROKER: And I think it depends on the – it depends on the situation. I
mean, when President Obama was talking about the tragedy in
Connecticut, and this is a man who's a father, and you know, is the
leader of our country. You know, to see that emotion, I don't think
there's anything wrong with it.
GEIST: I don't think it's a problem when it comes from a place of
sincerity. When it looks political and calculated, that's where you run
into trouble....
MORALES: People know when it's real and when it's not real. And I think in Hillary Clinton's case, it was very much real.