Kotb took a week-long break from 'Today' when her daughter was hospitalized in March.
Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager had to grab the tissues.
On Wednesday, the friends and co-hosts spoke about the term brutally honest and how they each try to have that practice in their lives. During a segment on Today, Hager addressed a time she had to be honest with Kotb about a personal moment in their friendship.
"I can't believe you're bringing up that thing," Kotb told Hager, whom she admits is honest. "I can't believe you're bringing it up."
After getting her friend's permission to speak about it, Hager shared that she had to be honest with regard to one of Kotb's more trying times, when her 3-year-old daughter, Hope, was hospitalized in March.
"When Hoda's daughter wasn't feeling well, I just wasn't there for her the way I wanted to be," Hager said through tears. "I didn't know how to be. And I felt terrible about it but I didn't know what to do, so I just said it, I said, 'I feel like I haven't been there for you.'"
Kotb, who had began to cry herself, shared how much she appreciated her friend's words in that moment.
"I still remember when you said that to me," she said through tears. "And it was first of all, it was one of the most beautiful statements. You've had so many beautiful statements and it touched me deeply and it meant everything to me that you said that. I know you so inside and out, life is like that."
In March, Kotb had to take an extended time away from the show following a "family health issue." Upon her return, Kotb -- who is also mother to 6-year-old Haley -- shared that her youngest daughter was in the hospital.
"My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for more than a week," she told viewers. "I'm so grateful she's home. She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come. And we are watching her closely. I'm just so happy."
The same month, Hager spoke to ET about how much she felt her friend's absence while she was away.
"Hoda makes my life full," Hager gushed. "And it's so interesting, but you don't really know until somebody's kind of gone, unexpectedly, how much you depend on them."
"I mean, I knew I adored her, but I wrote her when she came back and I said, 'I don't even know if you know, how much you impact my life,'" she added, before getting emotional.
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