"I'm so sorry, mommy," Guthrie said through tears as she sat down with Hoda Kotb for a pre-taped interview on 'Today'
NEED TO KNOW
- The first half of Savannah Guthrie’s sit down with Hoda Kotb aired on Today on Thursday, March 26
- “We don’t know anything… [but] to think that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me?” Guthrie wondered in her first interview since her mother’s disappearance
- The second half of Guthrie’s conversation with Kotb will air on Friday, March 27
Savannah Guthrie is opening up about her family's ordeal in the wake of her mother Nancy's disappearance.
In her first interview since her mom went missing on Feb. 1, the Today host, 54, sat down with Hoda Kotb for a two-part conversation, the first half of which aired on Thursday, March 26.
"What Savannah has shown in these past 54 days is the most remarkable grace I have ever witnessed," Kotb said as she introduced the interview. Their conversation began with Guthrie detailing how she first found out the news that her mother disappeared. As she and her siblings pieced together what might have happened, she admitted she questioned whether her fame led to her mother being targeted.
"I think my brother, my siblings are so amazing, my brother, he spent his career in the military and worked in intelligence and is a fighter pilot and just brilliant and he saw very clearly right away what this was. And even on the phone when I called him, he knew. He said, ‘I think she’s been kidnapped for ransom.’ And I said, ‘What?!’" Guthrie told Kotb.
Credit: NBC / TODAY
"It sounds so — how dumb could I be — but I said, ‘Do you think because of me?’ He said, ‘I’m sorry, sweetie, but yeah, maybe,'" Savannah recalled of the conversation she had with her brother, Camron.
"I hope not. I mean, we still don’t know. Honestly, we don’t know anything. We don’t know anything. So I don’t know that it’s because she’s my mom and somebody thought, ‘Oh, that lady has money we could make a quick buck,'" Guthrie said. "That would make sense, but that’s probably… which is too much to bear. To think that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me? Can I just say, I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m sorry to my sister and my brother and my kids and my nephew and Tommy, my brother-in-law. I’m just so sorry. I’m so sorry. If it is me, I’m so sorry."
Guthrie's Today colleagues rallied around her after the interview aired. "The fact that our dear friend would blame herself…" said Craig Melvin, sitting at the desk.
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"Oh, that was the hardest part," Carson Daly said in agreement.
"That was the hardest part. That she would blame herself for any of this when it was some sicko or sickos out there who would kidnap a woman in the middle of the night," added Melvin.
When Kotb initially announced the interview on air on Wednesday, March 25, she described the conversation to her colleagues as "really emotional."
"We're gonna have the whole thing for you [Thursday] and Friday, but first, we did want to bring you one of the moments from the interview where Savannah shared a message to anybody who may have information about Nancy," Kotb added.
In a preview clip from the conversation, Guthrie said to Kotb through tears: "Someone needs to do the right thing. We are in agony. We are in agony. It is unbearable."
On March 5, PEOPLE reported that Guthrie plans to return to Today in an official capacity. While no date was set at that time, PEOPLE can confirm that information will be coming soon.
Three weeks ago, on March 5, Guthrie visited the Today show set in New York City for the first time since returning from Arizona. PEOPLE confirmed that she shared an emotional reunion with the entire staff and crew. She thanked them all for their prayers and support and for "caring about my mom as much as I do."
Credit: Savannah Guthrie/Instagram
The search for Nancy is now in its eighth week. The 84-year-old was last seen on Jan. 31, after her family dropped her off at her home in Tucson. When she failed to show up for a virtual church service the next day, the Pima County Sheriff's Department (PCSD) launched an urgent search for Nancy.
Investigators believe that Nancy was kidnapped overnight, citing surveillance footage of a masked man at her front door.
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Guthrie and her family continue to plead with the public for their help bringing their mom home.
Anyone with information about Nancy's disappearance is asked to please contact 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department 520-351-4900.
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