‘MTP’ Covers Anniversary of Boston Bombings Without Adrianne Haslet-Davis

By Merrill Knox 

The “Meet the Press” panel on the one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings aired yesterday with former Boston police commissioner Ed Davis, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and several first responders — but no survivor of the attack — after Adrianne Haslet-Davis canceled her scheduled appearance over whether the bombers would be identified by name.

Haslet-Davis, a dancer who lost one foot in the bombings, says she asked the show not to identify the bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, by name. Haslet-Davis left before the panel discussion began taping; an NBC News spokesperson said on Friday that the show couldn’t guarantee that the name wouldn’t be used and the network regretted “any distress caused by this miscommunication.”

As it turns out, Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s name was said during the panel discussion. “MTP” host David Gregory identified him by name while posing a question to Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey about whether red flags were missed. Watch (at about the 17 minute mark):

Advertisement

Haslet-Davis was also profiled for a CNN special that premiered last week. In an appearance on “CBS This Morning” with Anderson Cooper to promote the special, Haslet-Davis discussed why she won’t say Tsarnaev’s name and what she would like to see happen to him: “I think he did a terrible thing and I support them seeking the death penalty for this case.” Watch after the jump.

Advertisement