How NBC’s Today Show Handled Savannah Guthrie’s April 6 Return

Savannah Guthrie returned to NBC’s “Today” on Monday, rejoining co-anchor Craig Melvin during the 7 a.m. hour for the first time since her mother, Nancy Guthrie, was abducted from her home on February 1.

As of the top of the broadcast, the show had not yet devoted a formal segment to Guthrie’s return, instead opening the hour with a brief on-air acknowledgment.

“Good morning, welcome to ‘Today,’ on this Monday morning. We are so glad you started your week with us, and it is good to be home,” Guthrie began.

“Yes, it is good to have you back at home,” Melvin interjected.

“Well, here we go,” Guthrie said. “Ready or not, let’s do the news.”

Guthrie previously confirmed her return in an interview with former co-anchor Hoda Kotb, who had been filling in during her leave, explaining that although it was “hard to imagine” coming back, “I can’t not come back, because it’s my family. I think it’s part of my purpose right now.”

“I will have joy. And my joy will be my protest,” Guthrie added. “My joy will be my answer. And being there is joyful…. I’m not going to be the same. But maybe it’s like that old poem: ‘More beautiful in the broken places.'”

Nancy Guthrie was first reported missing on February 1, and her disappearance was later deemed a kidnapping by law enforcement. Although footage from a doorbell camera was released on February 10 — in which a masked man appeared to try to cover the camera’s view — police have yet to locate either Nancy or her captor.

During an intimate sit-down with Hoda Kotb that aired on “Today” March 26 and 27, Savannah Guthrie admitted that she has blamed herself for her mother’s disappearance, wondering if the person responsible targeted Nancy because of Savannah’s wealth and public profile.

“It’s too much to bear, to think that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me,” she cried to Kotb. “And I’d just say, I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry… If it is me, I’m so sorry.”