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Byline: Michele Greppi
The first message that hit NBC News President Steve Capus' pager at 1:13 a.m. last Thursday "was vague enough that it didn't set off the alarms,'' he said. "`U.K. police arrest several in plot to blow up U.K.-to-U.S. flights.'''
Two hours later, the message on Mr. Capus' pager was "homeland security raises security levels.''
By then, all the network news organizations in the U.S. were in full scramble with their London crews to assemble reports on the arrests of 24 people who had planned to blow up to 10 U.S.-bound planes out of the sky.
In a matter of a few hours, morning shows had to be re-booked with terrorism experts substituting for chefs, movie stars and mystery authors as the three network news divisions raced to bring their morning viewers complete, polished reports that would distinguish their programs. ABC, CBS and NBC news staffs rushed to establish satellite uplinks and feeds, and set up special reports to break the news to waking viewers whose local programming was interrupted.