News

Editor’s note: One in a series of remembrances on the 20 years since 9/11.

It was 8:49 a.m. Et, and CNN cut away from a commercial break. Viewers didn’t see a return to the studio, but what anchor Carol Lin described as a “very disturbing live shot”: “That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers,” she said on air, in a moment that has, in the years since, been replayed in retrospectives, documentaries and movies.

As it happened, Lin, in Atlanta, was the first national anchor to report on what, by the next hour, became apparent when a second plane struck the South Tower: The U.S. was under attack. The network’s coverage of 9/11 and its aftermath, along with other major outlets, would continue over the next weeks and months.

Lin, who...

This election in particular has generated flashbacks to 2000, when a 36-day battle ensued between the campaigns of George W. Bush and Al Gore over the results of the election and Florida’s vote in particular.

The recount, the subject of a recent HBO documentary and Meet the Press podcast, also proved to be an endurance contest for the reporters who covered it.

Bill Hemmer, anchor of Bill Hemmer Reports at Fox News, was with CNN at the time and ended up setting up stakes for the month that followed election night in Tallahassee, Fl, which was sort of ground zero for media coverage of the disputed results.

That year, during CNN’s coverage, Hemmer’s job was to take over for anchor Bernie Shaw at midnight, and “Bernie never got off the air.”

Hemmer said that the next morning, he was doing the morning show with Daryn Kagan, and around...

Fox News anchorman Bill Hemmer, 45, is one of NYC's most eligible bachelors!

Hemmer joined Fox News in 2005 and has been to nearly 60 countries covering top news stories from around the world, including the Haitian Quake, Hurricane Katrina, the 2006 Israel-Lebanon crisis, and he has interviewed President Obama.

During his 10 years with CNN, Hemmer hosted a number of programs, including "American Morning," "CNN Tonight," "CNN Early Edition," "CNN Morning News," and "CNN Live Today" with co-anchor Daryn Kagan.

Wednesday, after I posted a calendar of key award dates ahead, media wag Daryn Kagan (DarynKagan.com) noticed that the Emmys will be held at an unusual time. At Facebook, she posted this comment: "Is that early for Emmys? Aren't they usually early/mid-September?" Yes, Daryn. Very observant of you, m'friend! The Emmys are usually held in September as a way of saluting the best of last year's TV programs while we welcome the newest crop of series premieres. Since TV ratings usually run high in September, the TV awardfest usually fares well in the Nielsens. But since the Emmys usually do relatively well, even during low rating periods, the networks sometimes like to stick the Emmys...

NEW YORK -- CNN apologized Tuesday after an open mike transmitted an anchor's bathroom conversation with another woman live over the network as it was carrying President Bush's speech live in New Orleans. "Live From" anchor Kyra Phillips had apparently left the set around 12:48 p.m. ET Tuesday for a bathroom break while the news channel carried Bush's speech marking the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Phillips' wireless microphone was turned on and picked up about a minute and a half of a muffled conversation she had with an unidentified woman where she apparently talked about her husband, laughed and talked about her brother. "I've got to be protective of him," she said without being aware that the mike was on. "He's married, three kids, and his wife is just a control freak." CNN anchor Daryn Kagan broke into the telecast immediately afterward updating viewers on what Bush had been saying. "CNN experienced audio difficulties during the president's speech today in New Orleans," the CNN statement read. "We apologize to our viewers and the president for the disruption."...

NEW YORK -- Longtime CNN anchor Daryn Kagan will leave the network at month's end to start her own online business. Kagan announced her departure to colleagues in an e-mail Thursday. She said she will be putting her energies into the "next phase" of her career, launching an online community called darynkagan.com. Details of the venture were sketchy Thursday, but a notice on her Web site described it this way: "One woman. One radical idea: The world is a good place. Stop in for daily inspiration to improve your world." It's set to launch Nov. 13. "Sounds different, I know", Kagan wrote to her colleagues. "It is". Kagan couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.

NEW YORK -- Longtime CNN anchor Daryn Kagan will leave the network at month's end to start her own online business. Kagan announced her departure to colleagues in an e-mail Thursday. She said she will be putting her energies into the "next phase" of her career, launching an online community called darynkagan.com. Details of the venture were sketchy Thursday, but a notice on her Web site described it this way: "One woman. One radical idea: The world is a good place. Stop in for daily inspiration to improve your world." It's set to launch Nov. 13. "Sounds different, I know", Kagan wrote to her colleagues. "It is". Kagan couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.