Will Jenna Bush Hager's Dad Co-Host Jenna and Friends?

Parade

Will Jenna Bush Hager's dad, former president George W. Bush, co-host 'Jenna and Friends'? The 'TODAY' host and her twin sister Barbara Pierce Bush sit down with Parade to discuss their latest children's book, 'I Loved You First.'

Transcript

00:00So your new book, very excited, third one in the series, you dedicated it to your parents.

00:09Did they read it?

00:10What were their thoughts on it?

00:11Well, we dedicated it to our parents and also to our kids because I think what we've realized

00:16after becoming moms ourselves is how dedicated our parents were to like creating a magical

00:24childhood for us and also just being with us, being present, being part of our lives.

00:30And then we've seen the beauty of seeing the world through our kids' eyes over the last

00:36now, 12 years for me.

00:39I don't...

00:40Mom and dad...

00:41Mom definitely read it.

00:42Mom read it and thought it was sweet.

00:43Yes.

00:44And we, there's, our illustrator is beautiful and she did beautiful illustrations of different

00:48scenes in nature, which is an honor of our mom.

00:51Her mom, her mom, Jenna Welch, was a naturalist and loved nature and taught her and then she

00:56therefore taught us to love nature.

00:59And so the illustrations are also very much in honor of her and she loved them.

01:02So inspiring.

01:03I know your dad was a painter.

01:04Did he have any opinions on it?

01:06I mean, we, our dream is to do something with him at some point.

01:09Yes.

01:10We would love for him to be our illustrator, but we're still working on it.

01:15It may take some time.

01:16We'll discuss it in the future.

01:19Maybe when we see him over our book tour.

01:22So you said Mila is just about 12.

01:24Did she offer her opinion on this book?

01:26She didn't, but I mean, we sort of, this is kind of for the younger reader.

01:32She's fully reading like The Summer I Turned Pretty and Twilight and other such reads.

01:39But Hal was very insistent that there was a picture of baby Edward in it.

01:45He was like, cause he sort of feels like each book is for a different child.

01:49He was like, that book was for me.

01:51The last book was for me.

01:53And so he's like, this book is for baby Edward.

01:55And I was like, well, yes.

01:57And all the readers, but Hal has, and I said to Hal, well, we may retire, this may be our

02:01last book.

02:02And he goes, what?

02:03I like it.

02:04I really am a fan of your children's books.

02:07So at least one person is into it.

02:09Does Hal feel like a big brother now that he has a little cousin?

02:12Yes.

02:13But, and I have a three-year-old daughter, Cora Georgia, who loves Hal Hager and everything

02:18that he does, she thinks is the funniest thing she's ever seen.

02:21So I think he feels like a big brother and like he has his true, he found his true fan.

02:27Did you ever think of having them on the show for Janet and Friends, a little co-hosting?

02:31Hila wanted to co-host.

02:32Oh, she did?

02:33Yeah, she wanted to co-host, but she's had at least a yearly ban for her last appearance,

02:38which was inappropriate.

02:41She spilled his family secret.

02:45She never wears underwear.

02:48Therefore, but she's still like, can I please come on and co-host with dad?

02:52Like she still asks.

02:53Henry's thought is she's in sixth grade.

02:56She should be at school.

02:57She shouldn't be missing sixth grade to come and co-host.

03:00But maybe when we're towards the very end, summer, this summer, yeah, when she's not

03:06in school.

03:07Good thinking.

03:08What was the hardest part about joining your sister for co-hosting?

03:11I know family business, it's not always the easiest.

03:14Well, I am very private and co-hosting is inherently not private, but I obviously love

03:21getting to see Jenna in her elements and meet her team and, and see how much they love her.

03:27And so it's also really fun for me to get to do it.

03:30She's also so good at it.

03:31For somebody that never does it and doesn't even own a television, she's quite excellent.

03:35You don't own a television?

03:37She owns a television, but I'm just not a TV watcher.

03:40You stream some stuff here and there.

03:43Well, I overheard you kind of had your pick of who you think has done the best on the show.

03:48I think they've all been amazing.

03:50I loved Eva Longoria, Ciara, all the Saturday Night Live people, all the country people.

03:56I mean, it's been amazing.

03:57Of course, I fell in love with Scarlett Johansson and Dwayne Wade.

04:00That's like a different thing, you know, but they all have all been so fun.

04:05Yeah, so did the internet, I will say that.

04:08They love Scar Jo.

04:09They want her back.

04:10They actually liked everybody.

04:12It's a bit of a tough pick, but they also want to see your parents.

04:14Who's here to help?

04:15We heard that.

04:16We heard that.

04:17Would you want that?

04:18She's working on it.

04:19Yeah, of course.

04:20I mean, we have to really, I was like, we need to program a show so he thinks he's not

04:24doing men's style.

04:26We are a beauty segment.

04:27He's a former president, so I feel like we have to get something that fits his interests.

04:35But yeah, maybe for Father's Day.

04:36We're just going to throw that into the universe that we don't know because he hasn't accepted.

04:42If you could ask anyone knowing that their answer would be yes, who would it be?

04:46Oprah.

04:47Oprah?

04:48Who would you ask?

04:49Well, Oprah.

04:50Or I think Celine Dion or a throwback classic like that could be ready.

04:54That's a great idea.

04:55Celine.

04:56An icon.

04:57An icon.

04:58Oh, we should just do icon week?

04:59Yeah.

05:00Perfect.

05:01Celine.

05:02Oprah.

05:03Yeah.

05:04The list will grow.

05:05It will.

05:06I know Travis Kelsey has kind of said he wants to transition to onscreen work when he's done

05:08with his NFL career.

05:10Has he been in the run for consideration for guest hosting?

05:14Not that I know of, although I'm not in the no on every single person, but that'd be a

05:20good one.

05:21Travis Kelsey.

05:22Yeah.

05:23I like it.

05:24We have some really cool ones coming up.

05:25I can't say who, but we are booked through the spring and we have some really fun ones.

05:29I'll tell you tomorrow.

05:31Some unexpected ones too.

05:33Can't wait.

05:34Have you stayed in contact with Hoda?

05:35What does she think of your segment?

05:37I talk to Hoda all the time.

05:40She's just the most supportive always and totally optimistic and she'll definitely text

05:46in her favorites.

05:47I know you had said eighth grade with social media is when you would consider letting your

05:51kids.

05:52No, eighth grade is when they get a phone.

05:54Social media is like 16.

05:55Okay.

05:56I was going to say, Mula's getting there.

05:58Is she pushing for it?

05:59I know TikTok's like everything.

06:00No, she's really not.

06:01I mean, I think boundaries are super helpful in explaining sort of why we're doing things

06:07differently.

06:08Almost every friend in her friend group does have one, but her best friends from across

06:14her life, many of them's parents are also waiting, so it's kind of a good thing.

06:19She's not the only one, but no, I mean, I think it's a conversation for sure.

06:24I don't want it to be such a hard no that there's an obsession with it when it happens,

06:29so we're just trying to figure it out, but no, she's still phoneless.

06:33Pretty good on your part.

06:34I mean, I was 12 years old and this was before phones were a thing.

06:37I was begging my parents for this, so I can't even imagine, but...

06:40Well, there's so much more information now than when you were 12, and so I can say to

06:46her like, show me a piece of information where you can say that phones are good for your

06:50brain and we'll discuss, which does not come up.

06:54Your youngest is going to be turning one at the end of August or sometime in August.

06:58Do you have any big plans?

06:59Is there anything fun going on over the summer?

07:01Well, my three-year-old is in school, so that's been a big transition for her to be a big

07:06sister and have a baby brother, and our life is very centered around them right now, so

07:12we'll have a birthday for him, but I think it'll be more about her showering, her choosing

07:17what her little brother, what his birthday is like, just because his memory won't necessarily

07:23remember it.

07:24And by the way, Mila did that for Poppy, and it was Poppy's flamingo first.

07:28Cute.

07:29I remember that.

07:30So you never know what the vibe is going to be.

07:31It'll be a theme like that chosen by his big sister.

07:33Yeah.

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