Myth: Many people insist they were listening to the New York Philharmonic tune up for its regular Sunday broadcast when John Charles Daly broke in to the program with this: "We interrupt this program to bring you a new special bulletin; the Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor Hawaii by air, President Roosevelt has just announced." The fact is, that particular bulletin never went on the air. That particular bulletin was actually produced by Fred W. Friendly in 1948 when he and Edward R. Murrow were putting together the first "I Can Hear It Now" compilations of historic sound. Robert Trout worked with Friendly at both NBC and CBS, and says that only Friendly could find the attack on Pearl Harbor lacking sufficient drama and "might profit from a bit of Friendly-esque enhancement." So, Friendly spliced together part of the original John Charles Daly December 7 broadcast with one from President Roosevelt's death in 1945. If you listen carefully, you can hear the change in Daly's voice as it switches from the 1945 clip to the 1941 clip.

Fact: Robert Trout was part of the original CBS broadcast and tells listeners what really happened.
CBS was the only network that had a regular news broadcast on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 Eastern, just before the Philharmonic came on at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. By coincidence, World News Today came on the air within seconds of the first United Press flash from Pearl Harbor. Robert Trout was in London, working at the BBC. It was a few minutes before 8:30 in the evening [British Summer Time was permanently in force during the Second World War from February 1940 until October 1945, and the time difference between America's East coast and London on December 7 1941 was six hours. Therefore, it was just before 2:30 Eastern] and Trout was waiting to report on military advances in North Africa. A few minutes before air time, the London circuit opened, and the technician cut him through to New York. Normally at this point, Trout would talk to Paul White, the News Director, before actually going on the air, but for some reason on this day Trout was cut directly through to the studio. Trout heard regular small talk and shuffling of papers as John Daly prepared to go on the air. Then, less than two minutes before air time, he suddenly heard a burst of commotion through his headphones: doors opened, teletypes clattered in the newsroom, and he picked up fragments of agitated conversations. "War? Why it's automatically war." Trout pressed the headset against his ears and quickly got the picture. Seconds before air time, Paul White came on the line. Trout told him, "Don't tell me, I know." White said they were going to cancel the North African news and go directly to Washington for a special report. Trout would then give London's reaction. John Daly then came on the air:

2:30: Announcer: "Go ahead, New York."
Daly: "The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor Hawaii by air, President Roosevelt has just announced. The attack also was made on all military and naval activities on the principle island of Oahu."

Trout sat a bit stunned, listening to the first clear details given out in Daly's broadcast.

2:37: Then at 2:37 [Trout says "3:37" but surely means 2:37] Daly switched to Albert Warner in Washington, who reported on the President's brief statement given to the press by Press Secretary Steve Early. When Warner sent it back to New York, Daly then sent it over the London. But the BBC would not allow the story to be reported until the 9:00 news, about twenty minutes later. Trout used the first 11 minutes of The World Today broadcast to scribble out a few sentences acceptable to British security.

2:41: At 8:41 London time Trout went on the air with the reaction of the British people to an event they did not have the fainted idea had happened. After a few more comments about the Japanese fleet steaming northwest from Indochina, Trout "had run dry." He then started talking about the Libyan campaign. Trout muses that this must have seemed terribly irrelevant, given the circumstances. Normally after his reports, Trout would talk for a few minutes off-air with Paul White. This time, the channel went dead, and and American voice came on to say that the channel had been taken over by the United States Navy.

2:4?New York managed to get through to Manila, but censorship prevented Ford Wilkins from saying that the city was under bombardment. At 2:49 he was abruptly cut off the air.

At 4:00 [does he mean 3:00?] NBC aired the first live interview with an eyewitness over a live telephone line. Less than 90 seconds into the call it was interrupted by an operator who was trying to get through an emergency call.

3:03: Back in New York, 33 minutes after it began, John Daly ended the most extraordinary news cast of his career. Though it may seem inconceivable today, hardly a single scheduled program was pre-empted for news the rest of that day or that evening. The World Today ended and the New York Philharmonic begin its broadcast. The next news update would come during the Philharmonic's intermission.

It was 36 minutes after midnight in London when Bob Trout gave his next report.