Pyeongchang marks Lester Holt’s ninth time covering the Olympics. As the anchor of NBC Nightly News, Holt is responsible for handling an especially-politicized Olympics, the difficulties of which he discussed with Esquire. Most notably Holt and his Nightly News crew visited North Korea, where their ability to shoot was significantly restricted. Holt’s report took place in front of a ski slope, and the skiers were all government employees. “I think it’s fair to say there was an exercise to try and impress us and therefore impress the world,” Holt said of the scene he was allowed to film in North Korea. So far Holt’s Olympic coverage has also included interviews with Mike Pence and Fred Warmbier, the father of the American student who died after his release from North Korean captivity.
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