*NBC morning show offers little contradiction to claim bones of Jesus found*

Posted: February 26, 2007
NBC

"Today" co-hosts Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira informed the world this
morning the NBC show had a story that could do no less than completely
destroy a pillar of Western civilization.

"A shocking new claim that an ancient burial place may have housed the
bones of Christ and a son. This morning a Today exclusive that could
rock Christianity to its core," intoned Lauer in the show's opening.

Vieira later chimed in: "There are so few 'wow' stories out there, this
is one of them."

The Oscar-winning director of "Titanic," James Cameron, claims in a new
documentary the discovery of 10 stone coffins in a Jerusalem suburb
suggests Jesus was never resurrected.

Cameron's "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" asserts the coffins, discovered in a
Jerusalem suburb in 1980, are part of the family crypt of Jesus of Nazareth.

The news watchdog website Newsbusters noted that while "Today" aired
some contradictory statements, "for the most part the entire segment ran
as a full blown infomercial for Cameron's documentary."

Newsbusters recorded the following exchange, three minutes into the show.

Vieira: "And then we have a potentially amazing story. Have we possibly
found the tomb of Jesus Christ? You're looking live at the boxes that
could have contained the remains of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. They are
in an undisclosed location. There's a news conference later today but
we're gonna talk to the filmmakers first, here on the Today show about
that discovery."

Lauer: "More research needs to be done but if this turns out to be true
this changes everything."

Vieira: "Oh it's a huge story, absolutely."

When the segment finally aired, Vieira said, "While the Bible tells the
story of Jesus and his resurrection, this box could show physical
evidence that he existed, was buried and that he had a son, Judah."

Vieira noted that this was the central claim of Dan Brown's book "The Da
Vinci Code" – that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had a child –
which was turned into a movie heavily promoted by the "Today" show.

Vieira concluded the segment telling Cameron, in her interview, the
claim is "absolutely fascinating, potentially, I mean, many would argue
the biggest story or one of the biggest stories of our lifetime if you
are correct."