Jenna Bush Hager was praised for her "hustle" by her co-star on Thursday after she ran to the Today Show studios to sit with an emotional Hoda Kotb who hosted the first 10 minutes on her own.
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Jenna was filming a segment on the USS Baatan on Wednesday morning and believed she could make it to the studio by 10am but by 9.30am was still on the vessel and nowhere near the studios. They then made it to the car but were stuck in morning traffic.
WATCH: Jenna Bush Hager 'hustled' to get to Hoda Kotb after emotional Today Show episode
Laughing, Hoda shared with viewers on Thursday: "And so what did Jenna do? She was running with her 'I Love NY' jacket, with her assistant and Photo Nate was shooting this while carrying bags."
Photo Nate is what the pair call their producer, and he appeared on screen to praise Jenna's hustle: "I think a lot of people think its glamorous and it is but it takes having to hustle and get out of the traffic [to get to work on time]."
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"Only you would get out of the car and run through the streets," added Hoda.
However, the absence of Jenna was felt even more when Hoda almost broke down in tears as she spoke about the deaths of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas.
Hoda and Jenna host the Today Show's fourth hour
Visibly choked up, Hoda was seen trying to hold back tears as the episode went on.
"Today is like a different day," she said. "I'm feeling it. I feel like this is different." Hoda continued: "It just made all of us pause," speaking directly to the camera.
Talking of hearing others say that people will eventually move on from the tragedy, the NBC star added: "I don't know, I feel like this is a watershed moment. This is a moment where I think things change."
Hoda addressed viewers alone in the wake of the Texas school shooting
As she shared some photos of the victims, acknowledging that it was a "heavy" situation, she said: "When I look at these kids, I see the face of my kids." She was then joined by one of her executive producers, Talia, who was also a mom, and the two sat
together to talk about how they processed the news with their children.
They shared the different emotions that ran through them in the moment, with Hoda saying: "I went from feeling despair to feeling angry."
