Colorado shooting: TV news shows change plans

Brian Williams, anchor of NBC Nightly News, will head to Aurora, Colo.

By Yvonne Villarreal

July 20, 2012 12 AM PT

In the wake of the mass shooting that took place at a “Dark Knight Rises” screening in Aurora, Colo., networks are scrambling to cover the incident that that has left at least 12 people dead and at least 50 people injured.

“CBS This Morning” went into a third hour of programming Friday. Heading into the evening, Scott Pelley, anchor of the “CBS Evening News” will report from the scene Friday night.

Pelley will also anchor a special edition of “48 Hours” in prime time at 8 p.m. In addition, Jeff Glor, who anchors the Sunday edition of “CBS Evening News,” will anchor a split edition of “CBS This Morning Saturday” and head up “Evening News” Saturday and Sunday, remaining there to offer updates on Monday’s “CBS This Morning.”

Over on NBC, Brian Williams will anchor from Aurora. “Dateline” will have an hour on the shooting in prime time hosted by Ann Curry. The former “Today” show host will then co-anchor a weekend edition of “Today” on Saturday morning alongside Savannah Guthrie. Later in the evening on Saturday, Kate Snow will anchor from Aurora. Meanwhile,”Meet the Press” will feature the latest reports from the scene on Sunday.

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ABC is taking a slightly different approach. The network is keeping evening news achor Diane Sawyer stationed in New York, where she will anchor a special edition of “ABC World News” on Friday, with “World News” weekend anchor David Muir reporting from the scene. Chris Cuomo will anchor a special live edition of “20/20” from Colorado at 10 p.m. Later in the night, “Nightline” will focus on the tragedy with Bill Weir in New York with team coverage from Colorado. The network began coverage early Friday morning on “ABC World News Now” and “Good Morning America.”

Beyond the broadcast networks, cable news is also racing to cover the massacre.

Fox News Channel’s “On the Record With Greta Van Susteren” is ditching a taped special on the economy to cover the shooting with Van Susteren in Colorado. Chris Jansing, who was supposed to be on the way to London for Olympics coverage, changed gears and headed to Colorado, where she will anchor specials on MSNBC.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper will also be anchoring from the scene Friday night. And”Piers Morgan Tonight”will also shift focus to the shooting, according to a tweet by executive producer Jonathan Wald.

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Follow Yvonne Villarreal on Twitter: @villarrealy