All three cable news networks reported last night’s New York Times breaking news that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370’s first turn that diverted the plane’s path was done by a computer system potentially programmed in the plane’s cockpit.
Megyn Kelly had the co-writer of the Times story, Michael Schmidt, on as a guest at the top of her show at 9:01pmET.
But Schmidt sat on his reporting for 23 minutes, until after the piece went live on the NYTimes.com. “Way to hold it, right until the C block, Michael,” Kelly said sarcastically to Schmidt before he reported the news of the plane deliberately being diverted at 9:24pmET mark of the “Kelly File” (the funny exchange is after the jump).
Filling in on “Piers Morgan Live,” Bill Weir reported the Times story at 9:26pmET, talking to CNN safety analyst David Soucie and CNN aviation analyst Jim Tilmon.
MSNBC first mentioned the NY Times story at the top of “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” at 10:02pmET, as guest host Ari Melber turned to a report from NBC’s Tom Costello followed by a segment with former NTSB investigator Greg Feith and former corporate pilot Anthony Roman.