‘What Else Should I Do?’ Savannah Guthrie Tears Up Discussing Return To Today Show With Mother Still Missing

NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie teared up while discussing her return to the Today Show, claiming her decision to come back to work after her mother’s disappearance was “not easy.”

Savannah’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, went missing earlier this year in what law enforcement have claimed was likely a kidnapping. The case sparked a months long search for the 84-year-old, as multiple ransom notes were found and the Guthrie family offered $1 million reward for her mother’s return. After an extended absence, Savannah Guthrie returned to the Today Show in April.

She discussed the move with NBC’s Jenna Bush Hager on Monday, holding back tears as she told Bush Hager the choice was a difficult one.

“I can’t really look at you everyday without crying,” she said. “You know, it’s really hard to come back. I’ve been trying so hard to hold it together, and I promise I will.”

Guthrie acknowledged the support she received from everyone at the network, telling Bush Hager that she was “happy to be back” despite the challenge.

“When I see you in the morning, I know that you see me no matter what,” she told Bush Hager. “Sometimes It’s almost too much, because I feel like to do the job I got to keep it Goethe, pull it together, you know? I’m happy to be back. It’s like the two hours of my day — it’s not that I’m not thinking about it, because I am — but it’s something to do. It brings me a lot of joy to be with everybody. But no, it’s not easy.”

She went on to call being back at the show a “respite,” claiming her mother would have supported her choice and told her to “just keep going.”

“It’s a little respite. And you are my family. I don’t think if I had any other kind of job I would’ve even tried to come back. I just felt like, what else should I do?” she said. “And my mom would’ve said the same like, ‘Honey, just keep going, just keep going.’ And so, I am.”

Guthrie said that her return did not mean she had forgotten her mother.

“I know maybe people wonder like, ‘What’s going on? How is she able to do that job? Is she not thinking about it, did she forget?’ No, never. Never,” she said, later adding that “it’s always with me.”

“I cry every morning on the way to work, and I cry every morning on the way home,” she said.

In April, ABC News reported that the FBI had found “potentially critical DNA” at Nancy Guthries home. No new arrests have been made in the case.

Watch above via Today with Jenna & Sheinelle.

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