At the end of every show, Ellen DeGeneres tells viewers, "Be kind to one another."
Even in the darkest times, she believes in the power of that message. And so, as she filmed Tuesday's episode of her eponymous daytime talk show, she wanted to lift the spirits of those mourning the 59 dead and 525 wounded in Las Vegas. "I am very happy you are here today. I am hoping we can fill this room with love and prayers and hope. That's what I want right now," DeGeneres said, noting that she was taping the episode Monday, just hours after a gunman opened fire 22,000 concertgoers. "My heart is broken for everyone affected by what happened there. I mean, we were just in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. And when you think of Las Vegas, it's a place to escape and have fun, and you never imagine anything like this could ever happen."
Referring to a string of recent natural disasters, DeGeneres continued, "There's so much going on in the world right now: people are recovering from hurricanes, the devastation in Puerto Rico, and on top of all that, something like this happens. I don't know about you, but I feel sad, I feel anxious, I feel helpless. And it's very easy to lose hope, but we cannot do that. We cannot do that. I always say that there's a lot more good in the world than there is bad and I continue to believe that. And that is what we have to focus on. I see it everywhere. You look at Las Vegas and people were helping each other. People lined up at 4:30 in the morning to donate blood."
DeGeneres admitted it was "hard" to come to work on such a sad day. "When I woke up today, I thought, 'How am I going to do a show?' But it's also days like this that I appreciate my job more than ever because I get to focus and shine a light on the people who do good in the world." With that, she shared clips of past guests who "inspired" her with their acts of kindness.
In conclusion, she told viewers, "The world is full of amazing people. Good will always win. Love will always win. We will continue to shine a light on those people on our show." Her role as a talk show host, she explained, "is to give you an escape from whatever is going on in your life, whatever is going on in the world." And with that, she vowed, "Today is going to be a fun day."