Fox News Channel’s Happening Now co-anchor Jenna Lee has always been fascinated by the giant flag that flies from the tower of the George Washington Bridge on patriotic holidays. At 90 feet by 60 feet, it is the largest free-flying American flag in the country. Her curiosity led her to wonder who is responsible for it, how they hang it and where it is stored it in between holidays.
So she grabbed a camera man — and her nerves — and went in search of answers.
During an all-access tour on Memorial Day, Lee got fitted into a harness and attached to a bridge cable. “If you trip and fall, you don’t fall onto the bridge,” Lee told TVNewser, matter of factly. The two-part segment airs Friday during Happening Now, with packages during the 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. hours.
“It was wild. A totally wild experience. Probably once in a lifetime,” Lee said. “If you flip, you just hope that your safety harness holds.”
Sadly, something else was occurring while Lee was busy scaling the bridge that connects New Jersey to New York. The Old Glory Ranch in Wimberley, Texas, where Lee and her husband Leif Babin were married is in the town destroyed by the catastrophic Memorial Day floods.
“I know these people in Wimberley, it’s real life to me,” Lee said. “It’s absolutely heartbreaking. We’ve been back many times since we’ve been married.”
The couple chose the city when looking for a destination wedding that was between her home state of California and New York. where she now lives. When touring the city during the wedding planning, she noticed the flood markers along River Road.
“It’s high. When you’re in a car, it’s high. To know that it was three times the flood level is crazy. Very few people could anticipate that, prepare for that and react for it in the right way,” Lee said. “It’s so heartbreaking to see all the images.”
Lee, who gave birth in September, has started sharing intimate new mom moments with baby Trace, using the hashtag #adventuresofanewmom.
“It’s become such a bright spot of my career to go through a pregnancy and now becoming a new parent in this public forum,” Lee said. “It’s been so joyful in ways I can’t describe.”
While Lee has been at Happening Now for five years, she was also one of the inaugural co-hosts of the Fox Business Network when it launched in 2007. The network, which changed up its programming last week.
“I’m really excited about all the new changes for Fox Business. They have an incredible team over there, with amazing talent and also some really talented producers. I think that they’re being positioned to really shine,” Lee said. “I think there is only up and up for the network.”
More perspective…and much more on this story in a few weeks 😉 pic.twitter.com/LIK3vYyXoh
— Jenna Lee (@Jennafnc) May 20, 2015