Racist hunting for Al Roker lunges at Today show host in 'huge' security breach: report

A stranger slipped past security at NBC's "Today" show Thursday morning, forced his way deep inside the network's Rockefeller Center headquarters and allegedly lunged at anchor Craig Melvin while screaming a racial slur, law enforcement sources told TMZ.

The intruder was hunting for weatherman Al Roker, according to the report. After breaching the publicly accessible plaza around 9 a.m. ET, he ducked into a stairwell and made his way backstage, reportedly near the dressing rooms. Exactly how far he got remains unclear. When he couldn't find Roker, he turned on Melvin inside a restricted area, allegedly charging at him and yelling the N-word.

Staff and security rushed in and got the situation under control. The man, described by the sources as white and unarmed, was detained and arrested. No one was hurt, and the chaos never made it on air.

TMZ's Harvey Levin called it a "huge security breach" in a video posted to TMZ's social media account.

"The way it was put to us by people at the Today show, they are saying, and this was a quote, 'Heads are going to roll' because this security breach put the talent on the show at risk," he said.

Roughly 15 minutes after the harrowing encounter, both Melvin and Roker were in front of the cameras. A photo from inside the studio showed Melvin surrounded by colleagues in the immediate aftermath.

Staffers are demanding to know how an unauthorized stranger managed to trail one of the network's biggest stars off a public sidewalk and get so far into the building undetected. The breach has raised pointed questions about security at the morning show, which broadcasts from the street-level Studio 1A, famous for its "window on the world."