911 call on Dateline

[Guest guest]

Hi folks- just got this from a producer at dateline- get your vcr's warmed up!

We have another story about 911 calls and the challenges cell phones pose to

911 operators. The good news is that more people can call 911 whenever and

wherever they are in trouble. The bad news is that most 911 calls can't be

traced so the operator's main priority is to determine the location of

whoever is in trouble so rescue teams can get there. But suppose some is

lost, doesn't know where they are and they are in trouble? What should a 911

operator do then? That is the question raised by a terrible accident in

Miami. Len Cannon will have that story tonight...or will he?

For those of you in the east and central time zones, we're not sure how much

of Dateline you'll see. We go on the air after the Presidential address and

the Democratic response. It might all end right around 10 p.m. and you'll

get to see every story we had planned for tonight. But several times,

President Clinton's State of Union address was so long we didn't get on at

all.

Tonight, the best guess is that we'll get on sometime between 10:00-10:20

p.m.. And we have to be off the air by 11 p.m. so you can see your local

news. We have several different versions of tonight's show. We keep trimming

each story to give us several different options. At some point, we only have

time for one story. It all depends on when the speeches wrap up.

So tonight, I'll be in the control room watching the speech and working with

our director, associate director and day-of-air team, figuring out which

versions fit. There is only one way to find out--which is my way of saying I

hope you'll watch DATELINE TUESDAY immediately following the Presidential

address.

(Those of you on the West Coast will get to see Dateline in its entirety at

its regular time).