CNN evacuates New York office after bomb threat

Originally posted Friday, December 7, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

A phoned-in bomb threat led to CNN evacuating its New York offices Thursday night for a couple of hours.

It happened during the 10 p.m. hour when Don Lemon was on a commercial break. Law enforcement said a person claimed five bombs in the building. 

Authorities checked and gave CNN the all clear to return its employees back into the Time Warner Center building. 

"The NYPD has now given us the all clear, and employees have been permitted to return to the building," CNN president Jeff Zucker said in an internal memo to staff. "The building is secure and safe for everyone to return in the morning. We appreciate the swift action by the local authorities, and the patience and professionalism of all the employees who were impacted."

At around 10:20 p.m., CNN used taped programming for 30 minutes, then went live from the street. Lemon returned to the studio at about 12:15 a.m. early Friday morning to continue his show. He quickly pivoted to news about Kevin Hart stepping down as host of the Oscars. 

The CNN New York offices were last evacuated in October when they found a package with a possible explosives, addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan.