‘Love Is Finding Me In My Pain’: Inside Sheinelle Jones’ Emotional Return to TODAY as She Opens Up to Jenna About Life After Heartbreaking Loss
Sheinelle Jones has shared an emotional reflection on her first few weeks back in the TODAY studio following the devastating loss of her husband, Uche Ojeh.
The beloved presenter co-hosted TODAY With Jenna & Friends alongside Jenna Bush Hager on Monday, September 22, where she spoke candidly about navigating the highs and lows of returning to work without the man who had supported her for nearly two decades.
“It feels like I was never gone, and then it also feels like it was nine months,” Sheinelle said. “I have this thing inside me when I’m on air — especially on a show like this — where I ask myself, ‘Do I tell them the truth, or do I try to find the light in the truth?’ But this hour, we’re just telling the truth.”
Uche, Sheinelle’s husband of 17 years, passed away in May at the age of 45 after a courageous battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Now in her third week back at work, Sheinelle admitted that the end of her first week was particularly hard.
“We got through the first week of school, the first week I’m back at work — and on Friday when we got home, it was tough,” the mother of three explained. “There was nothing to rally ourselves for. It was just, ‘Oh, this is it — this is life.’ And that kind of sucks.”
She went on to describe how Saturdays were once a time when she and Uche would decompress together.
Saturday mornings used to be when we’d look at each other and say, ‘Oh my God, what a week.’ That first Saturday, there was no one there — my coach was gone, my life partner. The days after my first week were really tough. This is my new normal now.”
Sheinelle also revealed that being back in the studio has made her question the constant pace she once thrived on.
“I kept taking out my earpiece because everything felt so busy,” she said. “I used to live for the go-go-go-go-go, but now I don’t know if people are supposed to keep doing one thing after another like that.”
During the conversation, she referenced a piece of wisdom she learned from former TODAY co-anchor Hoda Kotb — the importance of scheduling time to care for yourself.
“When Hoda first told us she’d block off time in her calendar just to take a walk or do something for herself, I thought, ‘Yeah right,’” Sheinelle admitted. “Now I get it. Whether it’s taking a two-hour flight just to sit on a beach or simply going to get my nails done — I have to carve out that calm.”
Jenna, visibly emotional, told Sheinelle she had never met anyone stronger than her.
Sheinelle then shared a moment that moved her deeply — when Jenna sent her the song “Brighter Days” by Blessing Offor. As the track played in the studio, Sheinelle softly recited the lyrics, including the line: “I swear that love will find you in your pain.”
“I listened to that song over and over,” she said. “Because the idea of love finding you in your pain — that’s what this is. That’s what my friends, my family and even the viewers have given me.”
“Love is finding me in my pain,” Sheinelle added. “And that’s what sustains me.”
Johnson Pushes Back on ‘War Powers’ Vote Amid Iran Strikes
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on Monday that passing a war powers resolution would strip President Trump of his authority to continue military operations in Iran, warning that such a move would present a “frightening prospect.”
Representatives Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) plan to push for a vote on a war powers resolution this week, which would require Congressional authorization before Trump can use military force against Iran again. They argue that the operations in Iran put U.S. troops at risk and are not representative of an “America First” agenda.
According to a source who spoke to The Hill, the resolution is expected to be brought to the floor on Thursday.
“I think the idea that we would move a War Powers Act vote right now, I mean, it will be forced to the floor, but the idea that we would take the ability of our commander in chief, the president, take his authority away right now to finish this job, is a frightening prospect to me,” Johnson told reporters after a briefing on the operation.
“It’s dangerous, and I am certainly hopeful, and I believe we do have the votes to put it down. That’s going to be a good thing for the country and our security and stability,” he added.
The U.S. and Israel conducted joint military strikes against Iran on Saturday after weeks of threats from Trump, who had called for regime change in Tehran. Johnson wrote on the social platform X that Congress’s bipartisan “Gang of Eight” was “briefed in detail earlier this week that military action may become necessary to protect American troops and American citizens in Iran.”
On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the Iranian military and regime were racing to achieve “immunity” for its ongoing nuclear weapons program, meaning the ability to develop enough ballistic missiles to shield itself and the program from destruction. That’s why Trump chose to act now, he added.
Trump told CNN on Monday morning that the “big wave” of the operation is yet to come. When he was asked how long the war will last, the president said, “I don’t want to see it go on too long. I always thought it would be four weeks. And we’re a little ahead of schedule.”
On Monday, Johnson told reporters he believes Trump “was acting well within his authority” as commander-in-chief to protect the country.
“It’s not a declaration of war. It’s not something that the president was required, because it’s defensive in nature and in design and in necessity, to come to Congress and get a vote first. And if they had briefed a larger group than the Gang of Eight, you know, there’s a real threat that that very sensitive intelligence that we had, you know, might have been leaked or something,” he said.
“So, this is why the commander in chief of our armed forces has the latitude that any commander in chief, any president always has, because they have a set of information that is sensitive, timely and urgent, and they have to be able to act upon it. They did that.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has urged lawmakers to support the war powers resolution, stating in a CNN interview on Monday that Trump needs to be constrained.
Presidents from both parties have taken action on behalf of the country in the past. Also, every president since the act was passed in the early 1970s has said they believe it unconstitutionally limits a president’s Article II authorities.
Trump Escalates Criticism of Ilhan Omar While Aboard Air Force One
What began earlier this month as a viral White House jab at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has now turned into a broader campaign offensive, with President Donald Trump doubling down on his criticism of the Somali-born congresswoman and the Somali refugee community in the United States.
Omar said during an October appearance on The Dean Obeidallah Show that she was not worried about losing her U.S. citizenship or being sent back to Somalia, where she was born.
“I have no worry, I don’t know how they’d take away my citizenship and like deport me,” Omar said. “But I don’t even know why that’s such a scary threat. I’m not the 8-year-old who escaped war
anymore. I’m grown, my kids are grown. I could go live wherever I want.”
On Nov. 10, the White House posted on X a 2024 photo of Trump waving from a McDonald’s drive-thru window, replying to a clip in which Omar said she was unconcerned about being deported.
The photo — taken during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania — quickly circulated online and was widely interpreted as a taunting “good-bye” message aimed at the Minnesota lawmaker.
Now, the feud has reignited. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump referenced the allegation that Omar had entered the U.S. through a fraudulent marriage.
“She supposedly came into our country by marrying her brother,” he said. “If that’s true, she shouldn’t be a congresswoman, and we should throw her the hell out of the country.”
The president also broadened his remarks to criticize Somali immigration overall.
“Somalis have caused us a lot of trouble, and they cost us a lot of money,” Trump said. “What the hell are we paying Somalia for? We have Ilhan Omar who does nothing but complain about our Constitution and our country! We’re not taking their people anymore — in fact, we’re sending them back.”
Trump has often accused Omar of being “anti-American,” previously telling her and other progressive “Squad” members to “go back” to their “broken and crime-infested countries.” Omar responded earlier this month by calling Trump a “lying buffoon” and saying his story about Somalia’s president refusing to take her back was fabricated.
The White House has signaled that it will not walk back the president’s latest statements. A senior aide said Trump was “reminding voters that America’s generosity should never be repaid with contempt.”
Omar’s family fled Somalia’s civil war in 1991 and spent several years in a Kenyan refugee camp before settling in the United States. She was elected to Congress in 2018, becoming one of the first Muslim women and the first Somali-American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The renewed confrontation underscores the political tension between Trump and radical members of the “Squad.” It comes amidst growing concerns about immigration policy and the vetting of immigrants in the aftermath of an Afghan refugee’s shooting of two National Guard members over the Thanksgiving holiday.
