Madonna Appears on The Today Show

Madonna continues her media blitz to discuss her recent adoption of 13-month-old David by making an appearance on the Today Show and Dateline NBC today.

In the interview, Madonna reveals that she offered to leave David with his birth father,Yohane Banda, and provide him with financial support to raise the tot.

"When I met (Yohane), I said I would be happy to … to bring (David) back to your village and help you financially raise him," the singer says in the interview. "And he said no … I think he truly felt in his heart of hearts that – and who knows if he was telling me the truth – that he would have a better life with me. So, when he said no, that was my sign that it was my responsibility to look after him."

The singer has faced protests from human rights groups and bad press about the adoption, when asked if she would do things the same way, Madonna answers, "I mean, if you would have asked me a week ago when I was in...the depths of my depression, and just feeling so sad about the state of the world and how negative everybody was, I probably would have said no. But if you ask me today, I would say yes."

Over the weekend, the internet was abuzz with due to a photograph of the child wearing a red-stringed bracelet that is often associated with followers of the Kabbalah.

"I believe in Jesus and I study Kabbalah. So, I don't see why he can't too," says Madonna. "The essence of the Kabbalah is the teachings of Jesus. You know, love your neighbor as yourself."

She does add that the decision of his spirituality will be up to David. "If David decides he wants to be a Christian, then so be it. Studying Kabbalah doesn't mean you can't be a Christian or a Buddhist or a Muslim or a Jew or whatever."

Madonna says that David fit right into the family her children, Lourdes and Rocco, adore him. "He's got a terrible temper. He's very flirtatious. And he's hysterically funny," she says.

When Meredith Vieira pointed out that those qualities sounded a lot like Madonna herself, the singer laughed and responded, "I do have a terrible temper. ...I would say that's kind of me, yeah. But obviously he's going to come with his own baggage and his own DNA and I look forward to being surprised by what he's going to offer the world and how he's going to turn out."

Source: PEOPLE