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Al Roker roots for the ‘talented’ Tamron Hall ahead of ‘Climate in Crisis’ series debut


During Monday’s debut of the “Tamron Hall Show,” the exuberant host gave a shoutout to her former “Today” colleagues, including Al Roker. 

Roker, who hosted the “Today” show’s third hour with Hall until NBC News lured Megyn Kelly from Fox News, says he’s seen her new syndicated talk show, which premiered Sept. 9, and praises Hall as “one of the most talented broadcasters I know.”

How did he feel about her February 2017 departure?

“Well look, nobody likes change,” he acknowledges, though he accepts that it was the right move for her. “She needed to do what she needed to do for herself, and I’m just glad that she was able to find what she was looking for.”

At the time, the network said it entered talks to renew Hall’s contract, which expired in February: “We hoped that she would decide to stay. We are disappointed that she has chosen to leave, but we wish her all the best.”

(On her talk show’s first episode, Hall said she considered herself “fired,” adding “demoted, I guess, is what they called it.”)

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Since moving on from NBC, which Hall told USA TODAY left her “heartbroken,” the journalist wed music executive Steven Greener and in April, welcomed their son, Moses. Roker applauds his former co-worker’s professional achievement, but he’s also elated about the changes in her personal life. 

“I’m thrilled she’s got her show, but I’m even more happy that she’s has a family and she’s happy, and that’s what counts,” he says.

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But Hall isn’t the only one with a new project. Roker is part of NBC News’ new climate unit, spurred from its weather unit with a focus on the global environment. 

He says NBC News President Noah Oppenheim presented the idea of the initiative about a month ago, which Roker deems “a dream.” To commemorate the new unit, NBC News, MSNBC, Telemundo and NBC News Digital will air a weeklong series beginning Sunday, titled “Climate in Crisis.” 

For the program, Roker traveled to Kulusuk, Greenland, and worked with NASA scientists on Oceans Melting Greenland, which seeks to understand whether (and how much) the oceans are melting Greenland’s ice from below.

Last month, the Associated Press reported that Greenland saw “two of the biggest melts on record since 2012” this summer.

Ice loss from Greenland is the single largest contributor to global sea-level rise, which is predicted to eventually lead to inundation of low-lying islands and coastal cities around the world.

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“This is an important initiative,” says Roker, who was present as probes were dropped into the water and in and around glaciers. “It’s still gonna be a ways before they get the data, but some of the preliminary data we saw, the ocean up there continues to rise, which is going to lead to more ice melting.”

When reflecting on the current status of the environment, Roker ticks off a list of troubling issues. 

“We are at a point now where we’re seeing our oceans warming, we’re seeing our planet, our land mass is warming and what that does is create the environment for more violent swings in weather for more violent storms, for more rapidly intensifying hurricanes, for more rainfall that exceeds general averages,” he says.

Still, he’s hopeful that things can improve.

“We can effect change,” but “do we have the planetary will to do so? I think we do,” he says. “I don’t want to present nothing but doom and gloom. We want to be able to present alternatives and possibilities and ways that we can each make a difference.”

Contributing: Doyle Rice and Gary Levin  



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