Matt Lauer Interviews Madonna Badger Tonight, 6/21

In an exclusive interview with NBC's Matt Lauer, Madonna Badger, the woman who lost her three daughters and parents in a fire on Christmas morning, speaks out for the first time. The emotional interview will air tonight, June 21st on TODAY and later on "Rock Center with BrIan Williams" at 10p/9c.

Badger opens up to Lauer about the house in Connecticut she was renovating, her upbringing in a safety-conscious home, and what it was like to hear that her daughters and parents had not survived the fire. She discusses the subsequent events following the fire and the unanswered questions about how the fire could have started.

Sound bites from the interviews follow:

Matt Lauer:
Let me start with a question I think you've been asked a thousand times in the last five and a half months. How are you surviving? How are you coping?

MADONNA BADGER:
A day at a time. I mean, there's really no way -- every day I wake up and I have to remember, you know? So every day I have to go through that day. And then another day starts. So really it's just one day at a time.

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Matt Lauer:
I want to get back to the house in a second, but on a couple of occasions already you've said to me, "My mom is," and "Matthew is being a great parent to Lily, Grace, and Sarah." You speak in the present with your daughters and your mom and your dad. Consciously or subconsciously?

MADONNA BADGER:
Definitely subconsciously. Sometimes consciously.

Matt Lauer:
Why consciously?

MADONNA BADGER:
'Cause I feel them. They're with me, you know? They're not here physically. But I feel them, my children, and my mom and dad.

Matt Lauer:
Do you think you'll always feel that way?

MADONNA BADGER:
I hope so.

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Matt Lauer:
Let's talk about this in detail, because this is very important. And this is something that's been written a lot about. So as the renovations were going on and you and your girls were living there, there were smoke detectors in that house?

MADONNA BADGER:
There were two different kinds of smoke detectors in the house.

Matt Lauer:
So while you and Lily and Grace and Sarah were living in that house as the renovations were being completed, there were smoke detectors in that house?