John Elliott's First Day

"Weathercaster" John Elliott debuted on CBS 2 News today. He was first seen at 4:55 a.m. and he said, "I'm so happy to be here." He was welcomed at various times by anchors Brendan Keefe (filling in for Maurice DuBois) and Kate Sullivan but it wasn't until 6:09 before they mentioned where he comes from. Sullivan said he "hails from Michigan, most recently in Los Angeles and now in New York." "And I live in New Jersey," Elliott added.

For his debut, Elliott was generally very smooth but he made one error early. At 5:11, he went from the first slide in his presentation, the Almanac page, right to the Five Day Forecast. "And look, I've already made my first mistake," he pointed out. A few minutes later, he was back at the desk and he joked, "I'll have a clicker review during the next break," as he held up the device used to advance the slides. There is apparently a button on it that skips right to the five-day. "John, it took you 11 minutes to make your first mistake," Kate Sullivan said. "It usually takes me 30 seconds."

Elliott will also appear on CBS 2 News at Noon.

Elliott replaces Audrey Puente, whose status is "undetermined," according to a CBS 2 spokeswoman, the New York Post's Michael Starr reports. Puente first joined CBS 2 News in December of 2003 (read NewsByte2's coverage and see this Daily News article from 12/17/06) and served as Dave Price's backup on the morning newscast as he had to leave early to head to The Early Show's studio. She also handled noon weather duties and often filled in for Price on The Early Show. She became the full-time meteorologist for CBS 2 News This Morning on April 12 when Price left WCBS to focus on his national duties.