The power is out at CNN’s Washington DC bureau. Happened earlier this afternoon. The cause is not known but it could be out for 24 hours. “Sit room scrambling to produce on generator power,” writes a tipster. Says a CNN spokesperson, “At CNN, we’re prepared for any situation, even in The Situation Room.”
> Update from CNN: At approximately 1:15pm today, Union Center Plaza, the building that houses the CNN Washington bureau, experienced a power outage due to the failure of an electrical component on the 5th floor. The bureau has a two-phase back-up system in place for emergency situations and at no time did CNN’s on-air critical areas, including studios and control rooms, lose electrical power. Other newsgathering areas of the building are operating on the back-up generator system. Programming based out of the Washington bureau, including “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” and tonight’s “Larry King Live” guest hosted by chief national correspondent John King, will proceed as planned.