'TODAY' Intruder Appears to be Seen on Live Broadcast Before Storming the Set

The man who allegedly stormed the "TODAY" show set Thursday and hurled racist remarks at Craig Melvin seems to have been taped in the background of one of the show's segments just before the whole thing went down.

You can see who appears to be Andrew Truelove hanging outside the studio at Rockefeller Center as Savannah Guthrie and Craig report on a massive 14-foot-long great white shark that may be heading for Cape Cod.

The man who appears to be Truelove can be seen pacing back and forth in the background during the segment ... seemingly smoking. TMZ has not independently confirmed this is the perp, but it looks like this person has the same hairstyle, mustache, and clothing from when he was seen cuffed by cops hours later.

He was spotted on the broadcast around 8:45 in the morning, just 15 minutes before he allegedly weasled his way past security and rushed into the studio. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ he was originally looking for Al Roker, but once that plan failed, he turned his anger at Craig and began berating him and used the n-word.

Truelove was arrested by the NYPD, who booked him on hate crime burglary, hate crime menacing, hate crime criminal trespass, and harassment charges.

The 41-year-old has a criminal history in New York ... including multiple prior cases -- including a felony conviction -- involving allegations of trespassing and more.

Craig said on "TODAY" Friday morning he and his colleagues were "safe and sound" following the serious incident. He and Al were both granted protective orders against Truelove.