Inside Move: CNNfn cools heels as fire stifles b'cast

Network switched to sister net for several hours

By PAULA BERNSTEIN

For much of Monday, viewers looking for financial news on CNNfn were surprised to instead find news from around the world. Due to a fire in a manhole outside of CNN's Gotham headquarters, the financial news network was forced to switch to CNN International for several hours.

In its first day in its new 6:30-7:30 p.m. timeslot, "Lou Dobbs Moneyline," which airs on CNN and CNNfn, was broadcast with a backup generator. Since elevators in the building were down, the show's top guest, Anne Mulcahy, president and CEO of Xerox, had to climb 22 flights of stairs to be interviewed by Dobbs.

"Con Ed had a power outage, so we're in extreme conditions, which is bad in TV terms," said Dobbs, who went on to praise Mulcahy for her perseverance. "My hats off to you, Anne."