Wednesday, 11/21/01, 2:55pm CBS Sports Preempts CBS 2 News
Unfortunately, Robyn Carter lost the four games on Hollywood Squares, which aired on CBS 2 this evening. In game two, she did win a "Secret Square" question for a viewer of the show at home. After she lost the second game, host Tom Bergeron tried to calm Robyn down by telling her, "just relax!" After game three, he said, "the curse of the circle chair continues" (Robyn played "O", and her opponent David Sheehan was "X"). When Robyn took a while to respond to a question, Tom told her, "You have to agree or disagree, and you have to decide if you're going back to New York." She replied, "I'm definitely going back to New York!" They ran out of time in the fourth game, but Robyn was given $5,000 for the charity which she was playing for: the Twin Towers Fund. Tomorrow on CBS 2 First News @ 4:00, Robyn Carter will tell us more about her appearance on Hollywood Squares.
CBS 2's entertainment reporter Robyn Carter will appear on Hollywood Squares tonight. She will face-off against David Sheehan, entertainment reporter for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles (his "Blockbuster Entertainment Reports" air Thursdays on WCBS).
J.R. Whalen, Manager of the CBS 2 Information Center, tells us the followingAll this week, CBS2 viewers can learn more about the best ways to travel this holiday season and learn where to expect delays caused by increased traffic and security precautions. Along with members of the CBS2 Information Center, Representatives from AAA (the Automobile Association of America) will be on hand in the CBS2 Information Center to answer questions and alleviate viewers' uncertainties. Viewers have responded very positively to the CBS2 Information Center and have encouraged us to broaden the scope of topics to cover.These AAA Representatives will be in the Information Center all week long during CBS 2 News This Morning, Monday through Wednesday on the 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00 newscasts, and at Noon on Wednesday.
The CBS 2 Information Center will again be at work this week, but for much longer than in the past. It appears that CBS 2 will be taking calls and e-mails throughout the week answering travel questions. The segment will be called "Travel With 2," and will also operate in the mornings. The Info Center has taken viewers' phone calls and e-mails seven times in the past: six times with doctors and other experts answering questions about Antrax, and this past Wednesday they had employment answers for people looking for a new job (many of the callers had been displaced and laid-off due to the recent tragedies in New York). Send your e-mails to the Info Center via the "Instant Access" webpage located here or by calling 1-866-INFO-TWO. More information on this segment later this week.
Because college football on CBS was using Studio 43 last night, CBS 2 Weekend News at 11:00 was anchored by Kirstin Cole in the CBS 2 Newsroom (it was actually delayed for about 25 minutes). Vince DeMentri was off for personal reasons. The open only began with the first part ("You're watching CBS 2, home of the CBS 2 Information Network."), and then went straight to video of the top story. A second camera has been added to the newsroom for CBS 2 Newscasts that may sometimes originate from there due to CBS Sports's use of Studio 43. Craig Allen did the weather report from the CBS 2 Weather Center, and Gary Apple reported on sports from the Continental Airlines Arena.
This morning on CBS 2's special Sunday newscast at 8:00, Michael O'Looney and Hazel Sanchez anchored from the studio. Craig Allen was back for the weather forecast, and Lori Blanchard was in the CBS 2 Traffic Center reporting on the roads. A new split-screen was used between weather and traffic: it was the "eye" animation behind the two boxes and the "RoadWatch" graphic underneath (seen at left).This morning on CBS 2's special Sunday newscast at 8:00, Michael O'Looney and Hazel Sanchez anchored from the studio. Craig Allen was back for the weather forecast, and Lori Blanchard was in the CBS 2 Traffic Center reporting on the roads. A new split-screen was used between weather and traffic: it was the "eye" animation behind the two boxes and the "RoadWatch" graphic underneath (seen at left).
This afternoon at 4:55, at the end of CBS 2 First News @ 4:00, Dana Tyler and Ernie Anastos were standing by the plasma screens. Then they tossed it over to Todd McDermott and Angela Rae who previewed CBS 2 News at 5:00 for about 30 seconds. In the past few days during the 4:00 newscast, Todd and Angela had each previewed the 5:00 newscast at separate times. Today, Todd gave a preview at about 4:15. Also, since November 7th, CBS 2 First News @ 4:00 began a different way right before the open: a quick preview of the stories coming up with a CBS 2 Information Network logo and "swoosh" sound inbetween. And at the end of CBS 2 News at 5:00 today, Angela and Todd sent it to Dana and Ernie with a 30-second preview, similar to what happened just before 5:00.
On CBS 2 News at 5:00 today, Michael O'Looney joined Todd McDermott and Angela Rae at the newsdesk today to discuss his recent assignment in Europe. His first report airs tonight on Nightcast at 11:00 on CBS 2. Also related to this story is that I noticed a CBS 2 "On The Terror Trail" promo locally on the three major cable news networks today: CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. It looks like CBS 2 is trying to get the word out about their latest investigative series.
A CBS 2 Press Release:CBS 2’s Michael O’Looney reports from Hamburg, Germany where suspected terrorists Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi had lived prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center. Atta and Al-Shehhi are believed to have been at the controls of the two planes that crashed into New York’s twin towers. O’Looney’s reports will be featured during NIGHTCAST beginning on Thursday, Nov. 15 (11:00-11:35 PM).
Only days after police lifted the seal on the apartment shared by Atta and two of the 19 suspected hijackers, O’Looney was given an exclusive look at where authorities suspect the terror attacks were plotted. He visits with the landlord of the building who said, “I’m shocked… normal students and they’re terrorists!”
O’Looney’s reports also focus on the investigation into the Hamburg terrorist cell, including a look at a radical mosque being monitored by the German Secret Police where Atta and his followers often met. He also examines the alleged link between al Qaeda and Iraq, as well as the relationship between the father of suspected hijacker Ziad Samir Jarrah, a former member of the Stasi, and the al Qaeda terror network.
O’Looney has served as a reporter for WCBS-TV since 1995. His credits include foreign assignments in Egypt, where he investigated the rise of the Islamic fundamentalist movement following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and in the Bahamas, where he tracked the criminal trail of Sante and Kenneth Kimes, the mother/son grifter team convicted of murdering Manhattan millionaire Irene Silverman.
Cliff Cohen serves as Executive Producer of ON THE TERROR TRAIL. Joel Cheatwood is Executive Vice President for News, Viacom Television Stations and WCBS-TV News Director.
After providing updates from the newsroom yesterday, CBS 2 News reporter David Diaz has been reporting from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, where Flight 587 was scheduled to land yesterday afternoon. His live reports began on CBS 2 News at Noon today. He will cover how the community and the families are coping with yesterday's tragic plane crash. He is the third CBS 2 reporter to travel out of the country this month; Lou Young is reporting from the Middle East, and Michael O'Looney will begin reporting from Europe beginning Thursday night.
