[inletwindow]

CNN Domestic appears to have dropped 'Early Start' this morning in favour of taking CNNi Newsroom as the news of Joe Biden's visit to Ukraine breaks.

The manpower CNN have in Europe from the US is quite something. Obviously it has a lot to do with the Anniversary of the invasion, but would CNN have known beforehand of a potential Biden visit?

Already we've seen Caitlin Collins, Phil Mattingley, Alex Marquardt and Clarissa Ward in the space of 15 mins.

CNN always has extensive coverage of Biden's trips outside of the United States. And there are almost always reporters traveling with the president, even if they don't immediately know where they're going or aren't allowed to say yet.

And while his visit to Ukraine was not announced -- the White House announced over a week ago that he'd be in Poland Feb 20-22. CNN would plan a lot of coverage for that alone.

Certainly, there was a lot of speculation that Biden would also take the opportunity to visit Kyiv.

[matthieu1221]

Today London studio had both correspondents sitting alongside anchors in the 4am ET hour.

This lead to Nic Robertson having a somewhat glassy backdrop on the now (post-pandemic) rarely utilized studio wall that is opposite vertical screens.

UPD. Max and Bianca have their show extended for another hour today, substituting Early Start both on CNNI and CNN Domestic. Might have something to do with Biden's visit to Ukraine

If only every hour of CNNi was like this one (or in today's case, these ones)!

(And the kitchen counter at the London set still doesn't look any less weird 3 years on!)

[oscillon]

Meanwhile on the Don front, he is missing today, with Sara Sidner substituting, and The Daily Beast and Dedline reported as early as yesterday evening about it:
www.thedailybeast.com 

Don Lemon Benched Monday From ‘CNN This Morning’ Over Sexist Remark Scandal, Ins…
CNN sources told Confider that the network changed its Monday lineup to proceed …
  Source: www.thedailybeast.com

deadline.com 

Don Lemon Won’t Appear On Monday’s ‘CNN This Morning’ – Deadline
Don Lemon will not appear on Monday's edition of CNN This Morning, missing …
  Source: deadline.com

Interesting question is, will he appear tomorrow...

[dvboy]

CNN Domestic appears to have dropped 'Early Start' this morning in favour of taking CNNi Newsroom as the news of Joe Biden's visit to Ukraine breaks.

Conversely, the 13:00 GMT edition of CNN Newsroom and World Sport was dropped from CNNI in favour of an additional hour of CNN This Morning.

[Newsroom]

CNN Domestic appears to have dropped 'Early Start' this morning in favour of taking CNNi Newsroom as the news of Joe Biden's visit to Ukraine breaks.

Conversely, the 13:00 GMT edition of CNN Newsroom and World Sport was dropped from CNNI in favour of an additional hour of CNN This Morning.

Which it not unusual tbf. It is however unusual for Domestic to take International over its own output at all! A joyous moment!

[oscillon]

For some weird reason (federal holiday?) today's usual 7pm Erin Burnett Outfront (anchored by Pamela Brown) carries an additional "Special Edition" label in the lower right ticker which usually hosts show's name.

Also, throughout the show this ticker is in different font than usual, the latter resembling one from 2014-15 when current graphics was introduced.


This reminds that Wolf's TSR sometimes (also usually during holidays) carries additional "Special Report" name in the opening title, but I have never seen it in the ticker.

UPD. Just checked, Wolf had "Special report" label at the start of the show

And there will be another hour of The Situation Room today at 9pm ET.

[cityprod]

It's been the President's Day holiday in the US, so that's why things are slightly different.

[oscillon]

It's been the President's Day holiday in the US, so that's why things are slightly different.

Yes, it is a federal holiday, but this is where things become pretty incosistent with CNN.
Last time TSR had a Special Report label during a holiday in the titles was in September, when U.S. was celebrating Labour's day.
archive.org 

The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer : CNNW : September 5, 2022 2:00pm-3:00pm PD…
The command center for breaking news, politics and reports from around the world…
  Source: archive.org

And, indeed, just after TSR's "Special report" Erin Burnett did also air with that "Special edition" ticker addendum as well as the old font.
archive.org 

Erin Burnett OutFront : CNNW : September 5, 2022 4:00pm-5:00pm PDT : Free Borrow…
Erin Burnett stays ahead of the headlines, delivering a show that's in-depth and…
  Source: archive.org

However, they did not have neither TSR's "Special Report" nor Erin Burnett's "Special edition" ticker on Friday after Thanksgiving (although not sure if that Friday is an official holiday) or on Boxing Day (which was observed as an official holiday as Christmas was on Sunday).

The possible rule then is "IF there is a federal holiday AND it is observed on the same day AND TSR/Burnett is on air that day THEN they run with an additional label/ticker". Weird.

And what exactly does the "Special report"/"Special edition" here mean? That somebody is doing extra hours on a holiday, possibly at short notice? Because on Labour's day it was not Wolf, it was Brianna Keilar and there was no major story throughout the program, just Mar-a-Lago docs update as first part.

On US terrestrial networks "Special report" is used when indeed a major story has happened and they basically interrupt their programming to report it.

UPD. Wow, Wolf in Studio D for 9pm ET with three vertical screens that usually accompany Jake or John - and, funnily enough, NO "Special report" in the intro, now it finds itself in the lower third.

[EastCoast]

Pretty much every holiday edition of a prime time show will be a ‘special edition’. This is to distinguish it in the ratings so the projected lower viewership doesn’t affect the average counts for the show.

[Charles]

Something made me think about Nina Dos Santos today, so I looked her up, and I see that she has it indicated on her LinkedIn page that she doesn't work for CNN anymore as of this month.