-Well, it's an exciting time to be at NBC, first of all.
Congratulations.
I mean, the first female co-anchors
in the history, in 66 years.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪♪♪
66 years.
-What?!
-[ Laughs ] Yeah. I, uh -- I want to tell you the news.
Yeah. Exactly.
But that's -- It's a giant thing.
Man, oh, man.
I mean, you have great chemistry, obviously,
but, uh, you've both paid your dues.
Hoda, you've been doing this "Dateline" 16 years.
-Yeah. I was doing "Dateline" for a long, long time.
Um, and then I started laughing and scratching and drinking
with Kathie Lee for 10 years.
-Oh, and it was the best! You changed the game!
You guys are great!
-The combination, though, of those two things, I think,
made everything work out just right.
Like, Savannah and I started anchoring together,
and it was just weird.
It was like -- If you've ever met a friend
and had, like, a great moment, and you say to yourself,
"Wow. That was so much fun."
Like, "That works."
I think we had kind of like an instant thing.
-Yeah. Hoda says it was like a first date.
And I was like, "And I'm easy and desperate,"
so it was like... [ Laughter ]
Yeah, no problem.
It was. It just clicked, and it felt so good.
-Yeah. -And...we were so happy.
-You could see it come through. It comes through on TV.
And people are loving it. I'm so psyched.
Uh, and I'm just happy that you --
you made a positive out of what is a pretty --
is kind of a negative or sad situation.
You made it into a positive.
-Yeah, it was -- -It's tricky.
-It was a difficult time for the show, no question.
And we were talking about
just how do you navigate those waters.
-Yeah. It was -- It was hard.
And, I mean, every-- everyone saw it.
Like, we all went through it, and, um, you know --
but as you say, it's like something
really lovely and positive has happened.
And so, I think that's where we're focused.
And we have the best staff, and --
-How are they doing? How's everyone doing?
-They're great, and they're just, like,
working their hearts out at all times
for this thing that we all love, which is this show.
You know? It's great.
-These are people who come to work in the middle of the night.
If you tell them, "Look, we need five 10-speed bikes
for a spot at 6:00 in the morning,"
they will find them in the middle of the night.
Like, these guys work their you-know-whats off...
-It's amazing. Yeah.
-...and we just want them to be happy.
Like, we just want them to love, you know, coming to work.
-You feel a good vibe. You can tell you love it,
which is the why you got in this in the first place.
-I think we both feel like Forrest Gump.
Like, we're like, "How did we get here?" You know?
-How did this happen? -What?! It's just so --
-Well, you can tell you love it, though. I mean --
-Yeah, and we feel grateful.
-Do you remember your first gig,
when you first, like, went on air, like, as an anchor?
-I remember. -Oh, you mean in local news?
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-That was -- That may have been, like,
one of the most terrifying experiences in the world.
Can I tell you just a real quick story?
So, I was filling in for someone,
and it was my very first time anchoring.
And her name was Ann Martin, and she was, like, a legend.
And I still remember the prompter.
"Good evening." Um, "I'm Hoda Kotb.
Ann Martin is off."
And I remember I was so nervous.
And the guy cued me. I was filling in.
And I looked at the prompter, and I go, "Good evening.
I'm Ann Martin."
I was like, "Oh, my God!" -"Wait a second. I'm sorry.
I-I'm not Ann Martin."
-"I want to start over!"
But you just -- You can't believe you can go from that
and then you make a ton of mistakes,
and then we wind up sitting here together.
-Yeah, it's bizarre. I mean, it's the biggest.
I mean, it doesn't get bigger than what you guys are doing.
Now you're off to the Olympics. -Yes!
-PyeongChang. When does that start?
-Um, well, I'm not really sure. -February 8th, right?
-Oh, yeah. February 8th. That's right.
-Yes. -I was like --
We're so confused, 'cause I think
it's, like, 14 hours ahead or behind.
Like, it's actually -- -You're not going on
in the morning on -- -No, we're on at night.
And, like, right now, it's last October there.
That's all I know. [ Laughter ]
We're just like -- -Yeah.
-Yeah. You know, it's confusing.
-Yeah, it always has to be. Yeah.
-But February 8th.
-But you're gonna be on at night time.
-Yes. -Yes!
-Yeah, we're on in your shift.
We're gonna be on from 9:00 p.m. PyeongChang time.
-PyeongChang time, which is fantastic.
-Isn't that awesome? -Isn't that great?
What are we gonna do? -Well, wait.
If I want to make a cameo or something like that
from America... -Yes.
-...what time do I have to be awake?
-7:00 a.m. -7:00 a.m.
-I will see when you get back from the Olympics.
[ Laughter ]
It will great.
Can you buy me a T-shirt, something? Yeah.
Uh, I love the Winter Olympics. I'm looking forward to it.
I think it's great. -What's your favorite?
-Curling is my favorite. -Curling?
-Of course. -Yes.
-Isn't that -- It's like sweeping?
-Curling.
There's a brother/sister that were on our show --
Becca and Matt Hamilton.
They're brother and sister on the U.S. team.
And it's the first year they're gonna do, uh, co-ed curling.
So, they're gonna make history either way just by competing.
But hopefully they win and take -- U.S.A. takes home the gold.
Curling -- I'm saying -- -Yes.
-Hamilton, brother and sister. Play with those guys.
-You could do the curling color commentary.
-Yes! -I will do it.
I'll be sending tweets from New York.
[ Laughter ]
No, but I love it. I think it's fun.
I've been to a couple Olympics.
-I think the thing about the Olympics
is there's no other place, I don't think, on Earth
where you can sit there and watch a kid
you've never heard or never heard of before
and, in that instant, you get to watch their life change.
Like, you get to see a moment that turns them
from just, like, a person you didn't know their name
to a legend.
And think about how many times in your life
you get to watch someone's life change, like, in that moment.
-No, it's like that. -It's gonna be so cool. Yeah.
-And we know Lindsey Vonn. We know Shaun White.
There's, like -- The rest are kind of
all newbies and they're young.
I mean, they're kids out there, too.
I mean, it's all ages, but like you're saying,
the people are like --
You can tell, like, "Hi, I'm Ann" whatever.
Like, they're nervous.
They don't know even how to do interviews.
They're like, "I just want to ski," or "I just want to..."
-Right. 16-, 17-year-old kids. -It's great.
-Yeah. I remember when I first came to the "Today" show
and went to my first Olympics, I was like,
"Is it really, like, fun to go?
Is it fake fun or is it real fun?"
And they were like, "No, it's really fun.
And you go --" Phew!
-"Hey, you guys having fun at this party?"
"Yeah, this party's great. Yeah. Really a ton of fun.
All right. Can we leave now? Is it too rude to leave now?"
-No, but it was actually fun.
I have to say, like, being there
and hearing your national anthem play when we win gold --
like, you're like...
-It's moving. -It really is.
-It's the best. -It's so cool.
-Yeah, and the opening ceremonies, I love.
I love the opening. I love the closing ceremony.
I look forward to all that.
I'm like, "Let's just see what they're wearing."
And they're coming in, represent,
I stand up if I'm in my house.
I'm like, "That's right! U.S.A., baby! That's right!"
Yelling at my dog.
My dog's like, "I'm cool! I love U.S.A."
Uh, well, I'm looking forward to you guys going.
Please get me a T-shirt while you're over there.
Uh, and I've be watching you every single morning.
You're crushing it, and I love you guys.
Congratulations.
-Jimmy, we love you. -Savannah, I love you.
Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, everybody!