‘Morning Joe’ Host Scarborough Addresses Being Off Air, Criticizes Network: ‘We Were Very Disappointed’

SCARBOROUGH: “Before we start this hour, Willie, I just wanted to briefly talk to our friends and viewers that watch us every day and talk about what happened yesterday. We were told, in no uncertain terms, on Sunday evening that there was going to be one news feed across all NBC News channels yesterday. ‘The TODAY Show’ would be Lester Holt, other people that, Willie, you worked with on Sunday. That was going to be one news feed across all NBC News channels, that we were going to stay as a network in breaking news mode throughout all day yesterday. That did not happen. We don’t know why that didn’t happen. Our team was not given a good answer as to why that didn’t happen, but it didn’t happen. We were also told it was going to happen throughout the day. And I guess after there was such a strong blowback about yesterday morning, I guess they changed their plans, and so those plans changed, as well. So it didn’t — you know, we’ve talked about it off the air. We’ll talk about it on the air because we talk about everything on the air. We were very surprised. We were very disappointed. And if we had known that there wasn’t going to be the one news feed from NBC News across all NBC News channels, Willie, we obviously would have been in yesterday morning.”
GEIST: “Yeah, I was here up early on Sunday morning with NBC’s coverage. Savannah and I led the coverage on Sunday in the immediate aftermath, talking to eyewitnesses, talking to officials about what happened, obviously suited up and ready to go for yesterday morning on a big morning, and we were told something else was going to be broadcast. So, we are here today. Going through a lot. Catching up a little bit. But we want to be here for our audience, and we know you trust us and we have ultimate respect for you guys. So we are here today and wish we had been here yesterday.”
SCARBOROUGH: “Yeah, we all wish we would have been here yesterday. We still are — we’d like to figure out exactly why there wasn’t that one news feed.”
BRZEZINSKI: “And I think the reason why is this show began and continues 17 years later on being the place where you can go to have the hard conversations in a civil way. So it seemed like now more than ever is a day, a time that we would like to be on. And I think our viewers agree with that. So we continue. We are five minutes past the top of the hour — “
SCARBOROUGH: “And let me just say, next time we’re told there is going to be a news feed replacing us, we will be in our chairs.”
BRZEZINSKI: “We’ll be sitting here.”
SCARBOROUGH: “Yeah. And the news feed will be us, or they can get somebody else to host the show.”
BRZEZINSKI: “We’ll still be sitting here.”