CNN's Brazil reporter, Bruna Macedo, was robbed at knifepoint during a live, on-air segment on Saturday. Macedo was on the Bandeiras Bridge in São Paolo, where she was reporting about the increased water levels in the area. A man watched in the background before he approached Macedo. She greeted him, but he quickly pulled a knife on her. The on-air footage showed Macedo handing the man two cell phones before backing away.
Once producers realized what was happening, they cut away from the feed as it was unfolding.
A closer look at stills of the footage revealed that the man was watching from a distance before approaching the CNN reporter.
Rafael Colombo, one of CNN's hosts conducting the segment told Mediaite that in the moment, it was hard to figure out what was going on.
"It was impossible to understand at the time what was happening, if it was a homeless person passing by. But after what happened, we cut the image," he explained. “He threatened and she handed over a cell phone, but he knew she had two, because she has a private and a corporate one."
Colombo told Mediaite Macedo "did not suffer any kind of injury" and "is fine" but she “had a terrible scare."