As others have said, it is live but as a backup to the lavs so functionality (only omni as opposed to multi-pattern) probably doesn't have anything to do with why they chose it. Pretty much just set design/nostalgic purposes (along with the fact that everyone always has one on their desk) as its not taped live and the lav mics aren't going to screw up.
But, I'm curious why they got a commercial mic like the 414, as far as I know the other hosts use them much more for nostalgic purposes and don't use any of the well known studio (or taper) LDs.