Craig Melvin, host of "Today," engaged in a tense on-air exchange with correspondent Tom Costello on Thursday, calling out Costello for arriving late to his segment.
The incident occurred during the third hour of "Today" as Costello, reporting on Labor Day weekend travel from Reagan National Airport, was interviewed. After the segment, the show cut back to Melvin in the New York studio.
Melvin, 47, addressed Costello, 62, with sarcasm. "Great story there Tom. It's a shame we almost didn't see it this morning," he said. "We hear that if you were trying to catch a flight this morning, you would have missed it. What happened?" Melvin pressed, with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
Costello, who has been with "Today" for 23 years, admitted he had overslept. "I've been doing the Today show for 23 years and I have never overslept until this morning," he responded. He explained that his alarm clock had malfunctioned. "I get a phone call from my producer at 6:30 and he said, "Where are you?" I said, "I'm in bed, why?" he recounted. "My clock said 1:30. I took photographic proof a little afterwards. My clock was way off."
A graphic displayed a photograph of a clock showing 1:48.
Costello concluded that it was time for a new clock, joking that he might have to start relying on his iPhone. Melvin quipped back, referencing the old-fashioned nature of the broken clock, "1987 called, it wants its Timex back."
This exchange follows a recent on-air moment where Melvin and co-host Dylan Dreyer reacted with surprise to correspondent Emilie Ikeda announcing her pregnancy live on air during a previous episode.