Editor’s Note:
As of the publication of this article, Architects & Engineers for 9/11
Truth is awaiting a decision from the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) regarding the request for correction that AE911Truth and ten
family members of 9/11 victims submitted to NIST on April 15, 2020. The request
seeks corrections to eight separate items of information in NIST’s 2008 report
on the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7, any of which would
effectively force NIST to reverse its conclusion that fires caused the
building’s destruction.
NIST informed
AE911Truth on June 12, 2020, that it was unable to meet its goal of responding
within 60 days. Under the procedure governing such requests, NIST must provide
a decision within 120 days of the submission, which would fall on August 13,
2020. If NIST elects not to take the corrective action being sought, AE911Truth
and its fellow requesters would then have 30 days to file an appeal with NIST.
Should NIST fail in any way to comply with the procedure governing requests or
should it fail to rectify the information quality violations documented in the
request, AE911Truth and its fellow requesters are prepared to take legal
action.
In the
meantime, AE911Truth is taking one further step toward correcting the record on
the destruction of the Twin Towers with the publication of this article. This
exhaustive review of 70 hours of 9/11 news coverage reveals that the hypothesis
of explosions bringing down the Twin Towers was not only prevalent among
reporters covering the events in New York City on 9/11 but was, in fact, the
dominant hypothesis.
The 36
reporters who brought us the Twin Towers’ explosive demolition on 9/11 include,
by network, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and Cynthia McFadden; CBS’s Harold Dow,
Tom Flynn, Mika Brzezinski, and Carol Marin (appearing on WCBS); NBC’s Pat
Dawson and Anne Thompson; CNN’s Aaron Brown, Rose Arce, Patty Sabga, and Alan
Dodds Frank; Fox News’ David Lee Miller and Rick Leventhal; MSNBC’s Ashleigh
Banfield and Rick Sanchez; CNBC’s John Bussey, Ron Insana, and Bob Pisani;
WABC’s N.J. Burkett, Michelle Charlesworth, Nina Pineda, Cheryl Fiandaca, and
Joe Torres; WCBS’s John Slattery, Marcella Palmer, Vince DeMentri, and Marcia
Kramer; WNBC’s Walter Perez; New York 1’s Kristen Shaughnessy, Andrew Siff,
John Schiumo, and Andrew Kirtzman; USA Today’s Jack Kelley; and two
unidentified reporters (1 and 2) who attended a press conference with Mayor
Giuliani and Governor Pataki. Video clips of each reporter’s statements on 9/11
can be viewed below.
The widely held
belief that the Twin Towers collapsed as a result of the airplane impacts and
the resulting fires is, unbeknownst to most people, a revisionist theory. Among
individuals who witnessed the event firsthand, the more prevalent hypothesis
was that the Twin Towers had been brought down by massive explosions.
This
observation was first made 14 years ago in the article, “118 Witnesses: The
Firefighters’ Testimony to Explosions in the Twin Towers.” A review of
interviews conducted with 503 members of the New York Fire Department (FDNY) in
the weeks and months after 9/11 revealed that 118 of them described witnessing
what they interpreted that day to be explosions. Only 10 FDNY members were
found describing the destruction in ways supportive of the fire-induced
collapse hypothesis.
The interviews
of fire marshal John Coyle and firefighter Christopher Fenyo explicitly support
this finding. Coyle remarked in his interview, “I thought it was exploding,
actually. That’s what I thought for hours afterwards. . . . Everybody I think
at that point still thought these things were blown up.” Similarly, Fenyo
recalled in his interview, “At that point, a debate began to rage [about
whether to continue rescue operations in the other, still-standing tower]
because the perception was that the building looked like it had been taken out
with charges.”
News reporters
constitute another group of individuals who witnessed the event firsthand and
whose accounts were publicly documented. While many people have seen a
smattering of news clips on the internet in which reporters describe
explosions, there has never been, as far as we know, a systematic attempt to
collect these news clips and analyze them.
We decided to
take on this task for two reasons. First, we wanted to know just how prevalent
the explosion hypothesis was among reporters. Second, anticipating that this
would be the more prevalent hypothesis, we wanted to determine exactly how it
was supplanted by the hypothesis of fire-induced collapse.
In this
article, we present our findings related to the first question. In a subsequent
article, we will examine how the hypothesis of fire-induced collapse so quickly
supplanted the originally dominant explosion hypothesis.
Television
Coverage Compiled
To determine
how prevalent the explosion hypothesis was among reporters, we set out to
review as much continuous news coverage as we could find from the major
television networks, cable news channels, and local network affiliates covering
the events in New York.
Through
internet searches, we found continuous news coverage from 11 different
television networks, cable news channels, and local network affiliates. These
included the networks ABC, CBS, and NBC; cable news channels CNN, Fox News,
MSNBC, and CNBC; and local network affiliates WABC, WCBS, and WNBC. We also
incorporated coverage from New York One (NY1), a New York-based cable news
channel owned by Time Warner (now Spectrum), which we grouped with the local
network affiliates into a local channel category.
Unfortunately,
we were not able to find coverage spanning most of the day for every channel.
Thus, while the collection of news coverage we compiled is extensive, it is not
comprehensive. To fill in the gaps where possible, we included excerpts of coverage
that aired later in the day if we found that coverage to be relevant. We also
included one excerpt from USA Today’s coverage that we found to be relevant and
three excerpts from an afternoon press conference with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
and Governor George Pataki that aired on almost every channel. In general, the
times at which these excerpts aired are unknown, though in some cases we were
able to identify an approximate time.
The news
coverage we compiled and reviewed totaled approximately 70 hours.
Table 1:
Television Coverage Compiled
Networks
ABC 8:50
AM to 6:07 PM
CBS 8:52
AM to 12:00 PM + one excerpt at ~12:15 PM
NBC 8:51
AM to 6:30 PM
Cable News
Channels
CNN 8:32 AM to
12:00 AM (midnight)
Fox
News 8:51 AM to 5:00 PM
MSNBC
8:52 AM to 1:42 PM
CNBC
8:50 AM to ~4:16 PM
Local Channels
WABC
8:50 AM to 10:50 AM + nine excerpts from various times
WCBS
8:50 AM to 11:33 PM, 11:40 AM to 12:04 PM + six excerpts from various times
WNBC
8:50 AM to 10:30 AM (switches permanently to NBC network at 10:30 AM)
NY1 8:50
AM to 11:20 AM
–
Note: We invite
anyone who has portions of the television coverage we were not able to find to
send them to us at info@AE911Truth.org.
We will incorporate anything we receive and update this article accordingly.
For anyone who wishes to replicate our work, the entire collection of footage
can be downloaded here.
Criteria for
Defining ‘Explosion’ Versus ‘Non-Explosion’ Reporters
We sought to
answer one main question in our review of the news coverage: How many reporters
described the occurrence of explosions — both the raw number of reporters and
as a percentage of all reporters who covered the Twin Towers’ destruction — and
what was the nature of their reporting? To answer this question, we needed to
establish clear criteria for identifying what we will call “explosion
reporters” and “non-explosion reporters.”
We should make
clear that this article addresses the statements of reporters only and does not
address the statements of anchors, except in the case of one anchor (CNN’s
Aaron Brown) who had a direct view of the Twin Towers. In our next article, we
will address statements made by anchors, who were also interpreting the Twin
Towers’ destruction but without having witnessed it firsthand.
Because the
airplane impacts were often referred to as explosions, we were careful to
exclude any instances where it was not absolutely clear that the reporter was
referring only to the destruction of the Twin Towers.
As we studied
the news coverage and began to recognize patterns in how the Twin Towers’
destruction was reported, we developed three separate categories of reporting
that would classify someone as an “explosion reporter”: (1) eyewitness
reporting, (2) narrative reporting, and (3) source-based reporting. Below we
provide definitions of each.
Eyewitness Reporting
“Eyewitness
reporting” is when a reporter is an eyewitness with a direct view of or in
close proximity to the destruction of one or both of the Twin Towers and
perceives an explosion or explosions in conjunction with the destruction — or
perceives one or both of the towers as exploding, blowing up, blowing, or
erupting. Although we usually excluded the word “boom,” which could apply
either to an explosion or to a collapse, we included it in one case because the
totality of what the reporter (Nina Pineda) described indicated that she viewed
the event as being explosion-based.
We did not
include reporters who described only a “shaking” or “trembling” of the ground.
The perception of the ground shaking was widespread and constitutes important
eyewitness evidence, but it does not necessarily reveal much about how the
reporter interpreted what she or he was witnessing. Among reporters who
mentioned demolition, we excluded the ones who merely compared the destruction
to a demolition whenever it was clear that the reporter believed it to be a
collapse caused by structural failure. We also excluded reporters who used the
word “implode” or “implosion” whenever it was clear that the reporter used it
to describe the building collapsing in on itself, as opposed to a demolition.
Here is an
example of eyewitness reporting:
David Lee
Miller, Fox News, 10:01 AM: “Suddenly, while talking to an officer who was
questioning me about my press credentials, we heard a very loud blast, an
explosion. We looked up, and the building literally began to collapse before
us. . . . Not clear now is why this explosion took place. Was it because of the
planes that, uh, two planes, dual attacks this morning, or was there some other
attack, which is — there has been talk of here on the street.”
Narrative
Reporting
“Narrative
reporting” is when a reporter refers to the Twin Towers’ destruction as an
explosion-based event when speaking of it in the course of his or her
reporting. This could be a reporter who was an eyewitness to the destruction or
a reporter who otherwise understood the destruction to be an explosion-based
event.
The main
distinction between eyewitness reporting and narrative reporting is that
eyewitness reporting involves an eyewitness describing his or her direct perceptions,
often uttering them spontaneously, while narrative reporting involves
interpretation and/or outside influence, either of which inform the reporter’s
developing narrative of what took place. (In several cases, reporters go from
engaging in eyewitness reporting around the time of the destruction to engaging
in narrative reporting later on, with their direct perceptions informing their
developing narrative).
This
distinction is not meant to imply that one type of reporting is more valuable
or reliable than another. In this analysis, eyewitness reporting tells us about
what reporters perceived and immediately interpreted during, or shortly after,
the event. It thus gives us more information about the actual event. Narrative
reporting, by contrast, tells us how reporters interpreted the event after
having more time to process their perceptions and to synthesize additional
information from other sources. Narrative reporting thus tells us about the
collective narrative that was developing among reporters covering the event.
Here is an
example of narrative reporting:
George
Stephanopoulos, ABC, 12:27 PM: “Well, Peter, I’m going to give you kind of a
pool report from several of our correspondents down here of basically what
happened down here in downtown New York between 9:45 and 10:45 when the two
explosions and the collapse of the World Trade Center happened. At the time, I
was actually in the subway heading towards the World Trade Center right around
Franklin Street. And after the first explosion the subway station started to
fill with smoke. The subway cars started to fill with smoke, and the subways
actually stopped. They then diverted us around the World Trade Center to Park
Place, which is one stop beyond the World Trade Center. We got to that train
station at around 10:35, Peter, and it was a scene unlike I’ve ever seen before
in my entire life.”
Source-based
Reporting
Meyssan,
Thierry
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“Source-based
reporting” is when a reporter reports on the possible use of explosives based
on information from government officials who said they suspected that
explosives were used to bring down the Twin Towers.
Source-based
reporting is similar to narrative reporting in that it involves outside
influence. The main distinction is that source-based reporting is based on
information from government sources. Information from government sources
inherently indicates how government agencies were interpreting the event and is
sometimes given extra weight by reporters and viewers.
Here is an
example of source-based reporting:
Pat Dawson,
NBC, 11:55 AM: “Just moments ago I spoke to the Chief of Safety for the New
York City Fire Department . . . [He] told me that shortly after 9 o’clock he
had roughly 10 alarms, roughly 200 men in the building trying to effect rescues
of some of those civilians who were in there, and that basically he received
word of a possibility of a secondary device — that is, another bomb going off.
He tried to get his men out as quickly as he could, but he said that there was
another explosion which took place. And then an hour after the first hit here,
the first crash that took place, he said there was another explosion that took
place in one of the towers here. So obviously, according to his theory, he
thinks that there were actually devices that were planted in the building. . .
. But the bottom line is that, according to the Chief of Safety of the New York
City Fire Department, he says that he probably lost a great many men in those
secondary explosions. And he said that there were literally hundreds if not
thousands of people in those two towers when the explosions took place.”
Non-Explosion
Reporters
The main
criterion we developed for classifying someone as a “non-explosion reporter”
was that she or he reported on the destruction of one or both of the Twin
Towers and did not engage in any of the types of explosion reporting defined
above. To qualify as a non-explosion reporter, it was not necessary for the
reporter to explicitly articulate the fire-induced collapse hypothesis. The
mere absence of explosion reporting was enough to classify someone as a
non-explosion reporter.
The challenge
here lay not in identifying the absence of explosion reporting but in defining
what constituted “reporting on the destruction.” In the end, we decided this
should mean that the reporter had to describe the event of the destruction and
not simply mention it in passing.
We should note
that a reporter’s use of the word “collapse” did not necessarily qualify that
person as a non-explosion reporter. Many explosion reporters described the
occurrence of an explosion followed by collapse and they used the word
“collapse” in their reporting (David Lee Miller, quoted above, is a prime
example). Thus, use of the word “collapse” is not incompatible with being an
explosion reporter and did not qualify someone as a non-explosion reporter.
Also, if a
reporter made a statement that qualified him or her as an explosion reporter
and then subsequently made a statement explicitly supporting the fire-induced
collapse hypothesis (which is the case for WABC’s Joe Torres), we classified
this reporter as an explosion reporter because he or she engaged in some
explosion reporting at some point during the day. In this analysis, being
classified as an “explosion reporter” does not imply a permanent stance.
Rather, it just means that at some point in the day he or she reported the
occurrence of explosions or the possible use of explosives in relation to the
Twin Towers’ destruction.
Before we move
on to the next section, it is important to note that because non-explosion
reporters had to describe the event of the destruction and not simply mention
it in passing, the only way to make a valid numerical comparison between
explosion reporters and non-explosion reporters is to include only those who
engaged in eyewitness reporting. According to the criteria we developed,
explosion reporters who engaged in narrative reporting were not describing the
event of the destruction but rather were referring to it as an explosion-based
event in the course of their reporting, i.e., in passing. A comparable
classification does not exist for non-explosion reporters, because we excluded
those who only mentioned the event in passing (most commonly using the word
“collapse”).
Numerical
Analysis of ‘Explosion’ and ‘Non-Explosion’ Reporters
In total, we
identified 36 explosion reporters and four non-explosion reporters in the
approximately 70 hours of news coverage we reviewed. The 36 explosion reporters
and their statements are listed in Appendix A. The four non-explosion reporters
and their statements are listed in Appendix B. In addition, there were three
borderline cases that we determined could not be clearly classified as either
explosion or non-explosion reporters. Those cases are listed in Appendix C.
Of the 36
explosion reporters, 21 of them engaged in eyewitness reporting, 22 of them
engaged in narrative reporting, and three of them engaged in source-based
reporting. Recalling our definitions from above, this means the following:
21 reporters
witnessed what they perceived as an explosion or explosions during the destruction
of the Twin Towers or they perceived the Twin Towers as exploding, blowing up,
blowing, or erupting.
22 reporters
(eight of whom also fall into the eyewitness reporting category) referred to
the Twin Towers’ destruction as an explosion or an explosion-based event when
speaking of it in the course of their reporting.
Three reporters
(two of whom also fall into the narrative reporting category) reported on the
possible use of explosives based on information from government officials who
said they suspected that explosives were used to bring down the Twin Towers.
Four reporters
reported on the destruction of the Twin Towers and did not report explosions in
any way (either having witnessed explosions, having interpreted the destruction
as being an explosion-based event, or having been informed by government
officials about the possible use of explosives).
In terms of the
percentage of explosion and non-explosion reporters, 21 of the 25 reporters who
directly witnessed the destruction of the Twin Towers, or 84%, either perceived
an explosion or explosions or they perceived the Twin Towers as exploding,
blowing up, blowing, or erupting. In comparison, four of the 25 reporters who
directly witnessed the destruction of the Twin Towers, or 16%, did not report
explosions in any way.
The tables
below list each reporter and each instance of reporting according to the time
at which each report was made.
Table 2A:
Eyewitness Reporting by Explosion Reporters
Reporter
Channel Times of Reports
Ashleigh
Banfield MSNBC 9:59 AM
Aaron
Brown CNN 9:59 AM, 10:02 AM
N.J.
Burkett
WABC 9:59 AM
Walter
Perez
WNBC 9:59 AM, 10:00 AM, 10:27 AM
Kristen
Shaughnessy NY1 9:59 AM
David Lee
Miller Fox News 10:01 AM, 10:32 AM
Harold Dow
CBS 10:05 AM
Rick
Leventhal Fox News 10:05 AM, 10:06 AM,
10:12 AM
Michelle
Charlesworth WABC 10:10
AM
Andrew
Siff NY1 10:12 AM
Nina
Pineda
WABC 10:17 AM
Rose
Arce CNN 10:29 AM, 10:43 PM
Cheryl
Fiandaca WABC 10:38 AM,
unknown time shortly after 10:38 AM
Patty
Sabga CNN 10:57 AM
Tom Flynn
CBS 11:03 AM
Mika
Brzezinski CBS 11:15 AM
John
Bussey
CNBC 11:52 AM
Ron Insana
CNBC 12:41 PM, 1:08 PM
Anne Thompson
NBC 12:43 PM
Joe
Torres WABC Unknown time
Marcella
Palmer WCBS Unknown time
–
Table 2B:
Narrative Reporting by Explosion Reporters
Reporter
Channel Times of Reports
Michelle
Charlesworth* WABC 10:10 AM
Nina Pineda*
WABC
10:18 AM, 10:19 AM, unknown times
John
Schiumo NY1 10:18 AM
Cheryl
Fiandaca*
WABC
Unknown time shortly after 10:38 AM
Kristen
Shaughnessy*
NY1 10:42
AM, 10:43 AM, 10:45 AM
Rose Arce*
CNN 10:50 AM,
12:26 PM
Rick
Sanchez
MSNBC 10:52 AM, 11:26 AM, 12:09 PM
Ashleigh
Banfield*
MSNBC
10:54 AM, 10:55 AM, 1:35 PM, 1:36 PM, 1:37 PM
Carol Marin
(CBS reporter) WCBS
10:59 AM
Patty Sabga*
CNN 10:59 AM
Alan Dodds
Frank CNN 11:07 AM
Andrew Kirtzman
NY1 11:11 AM, 11:12 AM
John
Slattery
WCBS 11:44 AM
John Bussey*
CNBC
11:55 AM
George
Stephanopoulos ABC 12:27 PM
Bob
Pisani CNBC 2:42 PM
1st
Unidentified Reporter All
channels 2:43 PM (Giuliani and
Pataki press conference)
Marcia
Kramer All
channels 2:44 PM (Giuliani and
Pataki press conference)
2nd
Unidentified Reporter All
channels 2:54 PM (Giuliani and
Pataki press conference)
Pat
Dawson NBC 3:02 PM
Vince DeMentri
WCBS Unknown time around 5:00 PM
Cynthia
McFadden ABC 5:56 PM
*These
reporters also engaged in eyewitness reporting.
Table 2C:
Source-based Reporting by Explosion Reporters
Reporter
Channel Times of Reports
Pat
Dawson* NBC 11:55 AM
Rick Sanchez*
MSNBC
12:07 PM
Jack Kelley USA
Today Around 5:30 PM
*These
reporters also engaged in narrative reporting.
Table 2D:
Non-Explosion Reporters
Reporter
Network Times of Reports
Don Dahler
ABC 10:00 AM
Bob
Bazell NBC 10:08 AM
John
Zito MSNBC 10:36 AM
Drew
Millhon ABC 11:09 AM
–
How Reporters
Reported the Twin Towers’ Destruction
The picture
that unmistakably emerges is that the great majority of reporters who witnessed
the destruction of the Twin Towers either perceived an explosion or perceived
the towers as exploding. This hypothesis of the Twin Towers’ destruction then
continued to be prevalent among reporters covering the event, who essentially
viewed the destruction of the towers as an explosion-based attack subsequent to
the airplane strikes. We learn from the source-based reporting that the same
hypothesis was also held by officials in the FDNY, the New York Police
Department (NYPD), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) — three of the
most important agencies involved in the response to the attacks. In particular,
with regard to the FBI, we are told the explosion hypothesis was the agency’s
“working theory” as of late in the afternoon on 9/11.
Unlike members
of the FDNY, most of whom provided their accounts during interviews conducted
weeks or months after the event, it was the job of reporters to spontaneously
communicate their perception and interpretation of events. Thus, when their
reporting is compiled into one record, we are left with a rich and largely
unfiltered collective account of what took place. Considered alongside the FDNY
oral histories, these reporters’ statements, in our view, constitute strong
corroborating evidence that explosives were used to destroy the Twin Towers.
Regarding the
four non-explosion reporters, in addition to the fact that there are so few of
them, we find that their individual accounts add little support to the
fire-induced collapse hypothesis.
Two of the
reporters were quite far away from the Twin Towers at the time of their
destruction relative to most of the explosion reporters: Drew Millhon was
“about 10 to 12 blocks north of the World Trade Center,” at the intersection of
Varick Street and Canal Street, while Bob Bazell was at St. Vincent’s hospital
on West 12th Street, approximately two miles from the World Trade Center.
Meanwhile, Don Dahler, the only reporter who explicitly articulated the
fire-induced collapse hypothesis, nonetheless likened the South Tower’s
destruction to a controlled demolition, saying: “The entire building has just
collapsed as if a demolition team set off — when you see the old demolitions of
these old buildings.” The fourth non-explosion reporter, John Zito, was quite
close to the South Tower when it came down. He did not describe an explosion,
but he also did not attribute the destruction to a fire-induced collapse. It is
worth noting that Ron Insana, whom Zito was with, vividly described seeing the
building “exploding” and “blowing” and hearing a “noise associated with an
implosion.”
Conclusion
Returning to
the first question posed at the top of this article, we conclude that the
hypothesis of explosions bringing down the Twin Towers was not only prevalent
among reporters but was, in fact, the dominant hypothesis.
Furthermore,
the 21 instances of eyewitness reporting, all of which contain spontaneous
descriptions of the phenomena the reporters witnessed, strongly corroborate the
overwhelming scientific evidence that explosives were used to destroy the Twin
Towers.
In a subsequent
article, we will examine how the hypothesis of fire-induced collapse so quickly
supplanted the originally dominant explosion hypothesis.
Appendix A:
Statements by 36 Explosion Reporters
These
statements are organized by channel in the same order as presented in Table 1.
Within each channel, they are organized chronologically based on the time of
the first noted statement by each reporter. A video containing all statements
by all 36 explosion reporters is available here.
1. George
Stephanopoulos, ABC
12:27 PM,
Narrative Reporting
“Well, Peter,
I’m going to give you kind of a pool report from several of our correspondents
down here of basically what happened down here in downtown New York between
9:45 and 10:45 when the two explosions and the collapse of the World Trade
Center happened. At the time, I was actually in the subway heading towards the
World Trade Center, right around Franklin Street. And after the first explosion
the subway station started to fill with smoke. The subway cars started to fill
with smoke, and the subways actually stopped. They then diverted us around the
World Trade Center to Park Place, which is one stop beyond the World Trade
Center. We got to that train station at around 10:35, Peter, and it was a scene
unlike I’ve ever seen before in my entire life. As we tried to get out of the
subway station and walk up into the street, it was pitch black, midnight black,
snowing soot all down through downtown Manhattan. This was about two blocks
from the World Trade Center. You couldn’t see a foot in front of your face at
that time.”
2. Cynthia
McFadden, ABC
5:56 PM,
Narrative Reporting
“We’ve been
told that all victims now who are taken out of the blast site are going to be
taken here first. . . . Part of the problem initially was that when the first
rescue workers went in — and we have talked to some of them, some of the second
wave of rescue workers — the first wave of rescue workers who went in were
trapped, many of them killed by the second blast. . . . There have been
hundreds of people at area hospitals, as you note. But they don’t believe that
anywhere near the full weight of this has yet been uncovered, that there are
hundreds and thousands of people who have been injured in this blast, and
that’s the people that they expect to bring here.”
3. Harold Dow,
CBS
10:05 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“Yes, I arrived
on the scene about an hour and a half ago. Believe it or not, there was another
major explosion. The building itself, literally the top of it came down,
sending smoke and debris everywhere. I tried to run to get away from all of the
debris. A number of other people here are trapped in the subway here in a shoe
store, trying to get away from most of the debris. It’s just an incredible
sight.”
4. Tom Flynn,
CBS
11:03,
Eyewitness Reporting
“At that time,
maybe 45 minutes into the taping that we were doing, which was maybe a half
hour after, there was — it was an explosion. It was way up where the fire was.
And the whole building at that point bellied out in flames, and everybody ran.”
5. Mika
Brzezinski, CBS
11:15 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“Dan, we’re
three blocks from the scene and we saw it all after the first two hits. We saw
the explosion and also the collapse of the tower.”
6. Pat Dawson,
NBC
11:55 AM,
Source-based Reporting
“Just moments
ago I spoke to the Chief of Safety for the New York City Fire Department, who
was obviously one of the first people here on the scene after those two planes
were crashed into the side — we assume — of the World Trade Center towers,
which used to be behind me over there. Chief Albert Turi told me that he was
here just literally 10 or 15 minutes after the events that took place this
morning, that is, the first crash. . . . [He] told me that shortly after 9
o’clock he had roughly 10 alarms, roughly 200 men in the building trying to
effect rescues of some of those civilians who were in there, and that basically
he received word of a possibility of a secondary device — that is, another bomb
going off. He tried to get his men out as quickly as he could, but he said that
there was another explosion which took place. And then an hour after the first
hit here, the first crash that took place, he said there was another explosion
that took place in one of the towers here. So obviously, according to his theory,
he thinks that there were actually devices that were planted in the building.
One of the secondary devices he thinks, that took place after the initial
impact, he thinks may have been on the plane that crashed into one of the
towers. The second device he thinks, he speculates, was probably planted in the
building. So that’s what we have been told by Albert Turi, who is the Chief of
Safety for the New York City Fire Department. He told me that just moments ago.
. . . But the bottom line is that, according to the Chief of Safety of the New
York City Fire Department, he says that he probably lost a great many men in
those secondary explosions. And he said that there were literally hundreds if
not thousands of people in those two towers when the explosions took place.”
3:02 PM,
Narrative Reporting
Dawson asks a
police officer: “How would you describe your efforts to organize to the rescue
effort now, given that we saw a sequence of events this morning? A sequence of
crashes, then explosions, and then the collapses.”
7. Anne
Thompson, NBC
12:43 PM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“And I was
walking on Broadway at Fulton, and suddenly we heard an explosion. It was the
first tower coming down. And down Broadway you could just see this wall of
debris flying at us. . . . It looked like a war zone. Debris, dust ankle deep,
cars on fire, cars turned askew in the explosion. . . . Then at about 10:30 it
looked like everything was all clear. I started to walk out. I walked down
Broadway towards Canal. And we heard the second explosion. . . . At that point
a fireman came into the building and said we all had to stay in one place. He
then told us all to get out of the building because they felt if there was a
third explosion that this building would be in danger.”
8. Aaron Brown,
CNN
Note: Although
Aaron Brown is a news anchor, we include him among the explosion reporters
because he was positioned outside and witnessed the events directly, and his
direct perception played a major role in his evolving interpretation of the
event.
9:59 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“Wow! Jamie.
Jamie, I need you to stop for a second. There has just been a huge explosion.
We can see a billowing smoke rising. And I can’t — I’ll tell you that I can’t
see that second tower. But there was a cascade of sparks and fire and now
this…it looks almost like a mushroom cloud, explosion, this huge, billowing
smoke in the second tower. This was the second of the two towers hit. And I,
you know, I cannot see behind that smoke obviously, as you can’t either. The
first tower in front has not changed. And we see this extraordinarily (sic) and
frightening scene behind us of this second tower now just encased in smoke.
What is behind it…I cannot tell you. But just look at that. That is about as
frightening a scene as you will ever see.”
10:02 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“Again, there has
been a second explosion here in Manhattan at the Trade Center. We are getting
reports that a part of the tower, the second tower, the one a bit further to
the south of us, has collapsed. We are checking on that. . . . What we can tell
you is that just in the last several minutes here — two or three minutes — a
second or third, I guess, technically, extraordinary event has happened here in
lower Manhattan. You can see this extraordinary plume of smoke that is, or was
at least, the second tower of the World Trade Center.”
9. Rose Arce,
CNN
10:29 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“I’m about a
block away. And there were several people that were hanging out the windows
right below where the plane crashed, when suddenly you saw the top of the
building start to shake, and people began leaping from the windows in the north
side of the building. You saw two people at first plummet and then a third one,
and then the entire top of the building just blew up, and splinters of debris
are falling on the street.”
10:50 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“It looks like
a large chunk of that debris has hit a building very close by, about two blocks
away next to an elementary school, causing another explosion. . . . So as
people are coming up the street running from the scene of this new explosion
you can see them slipping on the ash and literally having to drag each other up
the street.”
Note: We
include Rose Arce’s statement at 10:50 AM as narrative reporting because it
indicates that she initially perceived and then continued to interpret the
destruction of the Twin Towers as explosions.
12:26 PM, Narrative
Reporting
“As you walk
through the ash you can see debris from inside the World Trade Center itself, a
very eerie scene, pieces of paper from people’s desks, office supplies many,
many blocks from the site the actual explosion where they now are fearing that
there may be yet another explosion because of this potential gas leak.”
10:43 PM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“People were
rushing to the windows. They were taking clothes — one thing looked like a
blanket that they were waving — and then suddenly there was another, an
explosion, and you saw folks start to jump out the front window of the building
and plunge. I saw at least six people do this. Folks were pushing each other.
Some people were screaming for help and then just falling out.”
10. Patty Sabga,
CNN
10:57 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“About an hour
ago I was on the corner of Broadway and Park Place — that’s about a thousand
yards from the World Trade Center — when the first tower collapsed. It was a
massive explosion. At the time the police were trying desperately to evacuate
people from the area. When that explosion occurred it was like a scene out of a
horror film.”
10:59 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“The scene was
like a ghost town in the Financial District. Very eerie. You saw people being
wheeled on gurneys away from the site of the explosion. . . . Now, at the time
I was back on the corner again of Broadway and Park Place. At that time, the
police started running toward us telling everybody to move who was left on the
street. I looked up and that’s when I heard the — [coughs] pardon me — that’s
when I heard the explosion. That’s when the second tower came down.”
11. Alan Dodds
Frank, CNN
11:07 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“Aaron, just
two or three minutes ago there was yet another collapse or explosion. . . . But
at a quarter to 11:00 there was another collapse or explosion following the
10:30 collapse of the second Tower. And a firefighter who rushed by us
estimated that 50 stories went down. The street filled with smoke. It was like
a forest fire roaring down a canyon.”
Note: We
include Alan Dodds Frank’s statement at 11:07 AM as narrative reporting because
it indicates that he interpreted the destruction of the Twin Towers as possibly
being an explosion-based event.
12. David Lee
Miller, Fox News
10:01 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“Jon, the scene
is horrific. One of the two towers literally collapsed. I was making my way to
the foot of the World Trade Center. Suddenly, while talking to an officer who
was questioning me about my press credentials, we heard a very loud blast, an
explosion. We looked up, and the building literally began to collapse before
us. . . . And I am now standing in a black cloud of smoke. . . . I’m on a pay
phone on the street right now and I literally cannot see more than
quarter-block away. That’s how thick the smoke is. I’m on Murray Street and
West Broadway for those who know Lower Manhattan. Not clear now is why this explosion
took place. Was it because of the planes that, uh, two planes, dual attacks
this morning, or was there some other attack which is — there has been talk of
here on the street.”
10:32 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“Jon, just
seconds ago there was a huge explosion, and it appears right now the second
World Trade tower has just collapsed.”
13. Rick
Leventhal, Fox News
10:05 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
He asks a
police officer: “Do you know if it was an explosion or if it was a building
collapse?”
Then he asks:
“How many people would you say were on the ground when the building exploded or
collapsed?”
10:06 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“When the
building did collapse — or whatever it was that happened — it was a huge
explosion, a huge rumbling cloud of smoke and fire came a cross Church Street
and started billowing this way. . . The FBI is here, as you can see. They had
roped this area off. They were taking photographs and securing this area just
prior to that huge explosion that we all heard and felt.”
10:12 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“And we were
standing here when there was some sort of collapse or explosion and everyone
started running in this direction.”
14. Ashleigh
Banfield, MSNBC
9:59 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
Chris Jansing
(news anchor): “It does appear that there has been a third explosion in the
area of the World Trade Center. There was first one plane that hit one of the
Twin Towers. A second plane, each about one hour ago. And now a third
explosion. Ashleigh Banfield is in Manhattan. Ashleigh, did you see or hear
anything just moments ago?”
Ashleigh
Banfield: “God. Oh my god, Chris, this is incredible. I’m looking right at it.”
Jansing: “What
are you seeing, Ashleigh?”
Banfield:
“Well, I saw the explosion, for one.”
Jansing: “Could
you feel it?”
Banfield: “I
can smell it. Everyone around screamed at the time it happened. It’s just
unbelievable. I can’t see that it’s another building. It looks almost in the
same position as the second bomb, or second explosion. It’s unbelievable.”
Jansing:
“What’s the scene around you? What are people doing?
Banfield: “Most
people, as I said earlier, are absolutely aghast.
Jansing: “Are
they running?”
Banfield: “No
one’s running. No, I’m not close enough at this point to be seeing that. I
wouldn’t be showered with debris from my position here. I’m too far north of
it. But I have a bird’s eye view of what’s happening. The route that I’m on is
the emergency route right now, so all of the emergency vehicles are streaming past
us. But as I was looking up I saw the entire explosion. It looked exactly like
the first two. Unbelievable. And everyone who watched it around me screamed. It
was just a chorus of “oh my gods” from everyone standing around. I’m walking,
so what I’m hearing are a lot of people whose cars are parked, who’ve got their
radios tuned to local news stations and trying to catch up on just exactly
what’s happening. But now I’m seeing people running. But I really don’t think
they’re running from the area. We’re too far away to be in the direct line of
any debris. But we certainly had the most perfect vantage point for that
explosion. It was unbelievable. And the smoke now is so thick. It’s just
incredible.”
10:54 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“Well, we just
heard another explosion go off a couple minutes ago, Chris, and saw a bunch
more people sort of running this way. A woman on her bike was screaming as it
went off. And there was a New York City officer who was plain-clothed walking
by with a radio. I tried to stop him to ask what happened. And all he said was
‘car bomb, car bomb.’ And then I couldn’t ask him for any information. He said,
‘I have no time for this.’ We haven’t seen anything since. But the cloud of
smoke is still extremely thick right around the direct vicinity of the World
Trade Center. I am now about, I’d say — what do you say, we’re about five or 10
blocks north of it now? About five or 10 blocks north of it, and just
unbelievably the sun has come out. There’s blue sky above us. We started with sheer
blackness. When that cloud of debris and of smoke came out, when the explosion
happened, we couldn’t see anything, we couldn’t breathe. We tried to make our
way a few blocks up and we’ve made contact with some other NBC crew here.”
10:55 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“It’s
terrifying here, Chris. When that last bomb — or when that last collapse
happened, and the cloud came out, it was like something out of Hollywood. . . .
It’s really eerie seeing the people who got caught in that blast, because
everyone looks like a ghost.”
1:35 PM,
Narrative Reporting
“What did you
see in the epicenter when you came out of that explosion?”
1:36 PM,
Narrative Reporting
“At the very
start of the day when this happened, we were right in the epicenter where the
explosion was. Right now I’m covered in the debris and the dust from the
explosion itself. I was hit with a cloud of debris and smoke.”
1:37 PM,
Narrative Reporting
“That is 7
World Trade Center. Apparently on the south side, that’s the side that’s not
facing us, about halfway way up it’s still burning pretty badly, because it was
rocked with a lot of the explosion from the force of the Twin World Trade
Centers, when they came down. A large concern is what’s going to happen with
that brown building now, which is why we keep getting moved further and further
north. You can see people down on the street moving towards us. Even media who
originally were allowed to have more sort of free rein to report this story,
we’re being pushed out as well as, because there was some concern that there
might be additional explosions, possibly other bombs.”
15. Rick
Sanchez, MSNBC
10:52 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“You have to
understand that when this first happened, they certainly didn’t imagine that
there would be second or tertiary explosions. So they parked some of their
vehicles in those areas. And many of those vehicles — people in those vehicles
have lost their lives.”
11:26 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“Well, we’ve
been told, as matter of fact moments ago, to try and get out of this area,
because they’re moving everyone out. And the fear is, of course, that there are
gas leaks, natural gas in this area that either fed into or out of the
buildings that have exploded. And now those lines are open and may rupture.”
12:07 PM,
Source-based Reporting
“Well, I’m in
that area, if you’re familiar with this area of where West Broadway and Hudson
come together, right at Chambers. That would put us about a block and a half
away from the site of where the explosion was. That area has just been
evacuated because police have found what they describe as a suspicious device.
They fear that it might be something that could lead to another explosion.
Obviously, there’s a real sense of caution here on the part of police. I spoke
with some police officials moments ago, Chris. And they told me that they have
reason to believe that one of the explosions at the World Trade Center — aside
from the ones that may have been caused by the impact of the plane with the
building — may have been caused by a van that was parked in the building that
may have had some type of explosive device in it. So their fear is that there
may have been explosive devices planted either in the building or in the
adjacent area. And that’s why they’re being so cautious in this vicinity right
now.”
12:09 PM,
Narrative Reporting
“This is why
it’s so difficult for them in this area where we are. Imagine, they came here
originally to deal with a crisis. They set up some command centers, and they
had many of their chiefs and many of their supervisors in the area of the
building. The second and third explosions literally have wreaked havoc on those
field forces and those command centers. So they’ve had to back up. And now
they’re trying to see how they can approach it again.”
16. John
Bussey, CNBC Contributor, Wall Street Journal Reporter
11:52 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“I was getting
ready to talk with Haines [inaudible], and the fire was raging in both buildings.
I looked up at the south building, the second World Trade Center to be hit, and
explosions were coming down the building. It looked as if charges had been set
on each floor and they were in succession going off. Now, this is probably not
what was happening. It just looked that way to me. The building just blew out
floor by floor, and it probably had something to do with the structural damage
that was done by the planes hitting it. When I saw the floor-by-floor
explosions happening, I dove out of the office where I was because the windows
looked directly over the World Trade Center. We are in the World Financial
Center directly across West Street from the two Trade Centers. By the time I
came up from under a desk where I sought shelter, the entire floor, the entire
room where I was completely dense with cement and smoke. You could not see.”
Note: Here
Bussey has started to interpret the phenomena he witnessed as the building
simply collapsing. However, it is clear from this and from his other accounts
of the event (Source 1, Source 2) that his initial interpretation was that
explosives were destroying the building.
11:55 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“We were so
close to the building that you could feel it hitting your shoulder as it rained
down. But we were on the safe side of the building — much, much safer than
where the firefighters were on the other side of the building, exposed directly
to the explosion.”
17. Ron Insana,
CNBC
12:41 PM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“Well, I was
heading down after we had learned of it, about 9:00 or 8:55 this morning, I had
called in to see if we should go down and aid the coverage. And I was on my way
down. We got fairly close to the building, and I ran into a camera man from
MSNBC and we were trying to get across town past the World Trade Center to the
Westside Highway, which is on the lower southwest corner of Manhattan to hook
up with our colleagues from CNBC. And as we were going across one of the
restricted zones, the building started to explode, I guess the only way I could
describe it. It was hard to tell if it was an actual explosion, but the
building began to come down. . . . We heard, we heard — I wouldn’t call it an
explosion. We did notice that the building began to blow at the top, and that
material began to come down. . . . And as we turned to run, material just began
to fall. And like that scene in Independence Day, where wind was just whipping
down the street in the wake of an explosion, that’s exactly what we
experienced. It went down the street, curved around corners, and blew with a
fair degree of intensity, again, Tyler, until the sky was completely black.”
1:08 PM,
Eyewitness Reporting (appearing on NBC)
“As we were
moving towards the building we saw the top begin to blow out in a plume of
smoke. And we heard the noise associated with an implosion.”
18. Bob Pisani,
CNBC
2:42 PM,
Narrative Reporting
“And the real
panic, I think in my mind, occurred, Maria, I was outside when you were when
the second explosion occurred, because so many people had been attracted to
what was going on. The explosion threw debris on top of a lot of people. That
was when the real panic began.”
19. N.J.
Burkett, WABC
9:59 AM
(unknown air time), Eyewitness Reporting
“And you can
see the two towers — a huge explosion now raining debris on all of us! We
better get out of the way!”
20. Michelle
Charlesworth, WABC
10:10 AM,
Eyewitness and Narrative Reporting
“I can only
hope that people got out of the area on the sidewalks below the South Tower
before it came tumbling down. But it literally exploded and came down as though
it had been hit. Plumes of smoke moving out into the harbor. . . . To give you
some idea of where I am, I’m approximately 20, 30 blocks from where this latest
explosion just happened.”
21. Nina
Pineda, WABC
10:17 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
Bill Ritter:
“Nina, I want you to describe one more time what it felt like when that tower
collapsed. What did it feel like to you on the ground there?”
Nina Pineda:
“We were standing probably about three blocks away advancing toward the scene
to try and gather some photos and some videotape. And it felt like the entire
ground shook. It felt like what it feels like to be in an earthquake. The
ground was shaking followed by plumes and plumes of overwhelming smoke and
flying debris, ash, and pieces of the building. As the ground was shaking . .
.”
Lori Stokes:
“Was there sound?”
Pineda: “There
was a tremendous booming sound, and then it just felt like a rumbling. But it
didn’t sound like an explosion. It sounded like a loud rumbling. And then the
next thing we saw were the streets — the way the streets looked were just
overcome by smoke, just plumes and plumes of smoke like a bomb had gone off,
coming up the street as people were racing to get in front of these clouds of
smoke, and not doing too good of a job.”
10:18 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“And what were
doing when the explosion happened was shooting pieces of the plane. There are
pieces of the plane on Church Street.”
10:19 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“Seconds before
the explosion happened there was another kind of a renewed interest in really
getting people away. Because, of course, out of curiosity everyone’s trying to
get pictures of the World Trade Center on fire. They started screaming, ‘Get
back! Get back! There’s another explosion happening.’ I guess they were being
warned on their radios that the top was going to come down, because it was
burning for the better part of half an hour. And they screamed to get people
back. They started screaming, ‘Leave Manhattan if possible. Everybody leave
Manhattan if possible.’”
Unknown time,
Narrative Reporting
Pineda: “The
ladies that are with me were in the World Trade Center in the first building
and escaped through the lobby where they report that they believe there was a
bomb in the lobby.”
Michelle Scott
(witness): “And even the turnstile was burnt and it was sticking. And they just
told us to run.”
Igarlow Sweezer
(witness): “And we were coming out, we passed the lobby, there was no lobby. So
I believe the bomb hit the lobby first, and a couple of seconds and the first
plane hit.”
Unknown time,
Narrative Reporting
“If you can see
behind me, this a moment ago you could see all the way through. But from that
last explosion that Jeff Rossen was telling us about, it is now again dark. It
was strangely and eerily calm here in the Financial District because
everything’s been evacuated.”
Unknown time,
Narrative Reporting
“The only thing
left in the street are people’s shoes as they ran out of their shoes to escape
the fire bombs and the explosions.”
22. Cheryl
Fiandaca, WABC
10:38 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“I was right
next to the South Tower. I was about two blocks away. It was just a small
explosion, and then rocks and debris and everything started pouring down.”
Unknown time
shortly after 10:38 AM, Eyewitness and Narrative Reporting
“Right, we were
about two blocks away when the second explosion hit. And all we heard was just
a small explosion. And then we saw a roar of an explosion, and all kinds smoke
coming billowing out, debris falling down, people running, the firefighters and
police screaming at everyone to run as the debris was coming down and hitting
people.”
23. Joe Torres,
WABC
Unknown Air
Time, Eyewitness Reporting
“Ten o’clock
this morning, photographer Glenn Mayrose and I, along with FBI agents, police officers,
fire officials, we all thought for sure a bomb was set to explode underneath
our feet outside 7 World Trade Center. We took off running for our lives north
on Church Street. We had no idea the top of one of the Twin Towers had just
exploded. . . . As others looked back in shock and horror, we started another
interview with a Port Authority engineer who worked at World Trade Center and
spoke to us about the strength and integrity of the skyscrapers. Then,
suddenly, the second tower erupted right before our eyes.”
24. Carol
Marin, CBS Reporter appearing on WCBS
10:59 AM,
Narrative Reporting
Carol Marin:
“After the second tower went down, I was trying to make my way to a CBS crew or
to try to help CBS crews if I could. And then, I don’t know what it was, John.
But another explosion, a rolling blast of fire, a rolling column of fire
towards us. My respect for fire and police already knew no bounds given the
danger, it now exceeds what I thought it could, because a firefighter threw me
into the wall of a building, covered me with his body as the flames approached
us. And another police officer in New York named Brendan Duke, wherever he is,
got me through smoke that neither one of us could see more than about a foot
ahead of us. There are still people in there. Excuse me, I’ve breathed a fair
amount of soot. The personnel, the police and the fire working in there are
doing so against really dangerous odds. And they still don’t know if there’s
something left to explode, John.”
Meyssan,
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John Slattery:
“Where were you at the time?
Marin: “I was —
not being a New Yorker, you’ll have to help me here. I came around Stuyvesant
High School, and that street at the north end. And I came up and asked if
anyone had seen a CBS crew. And I was directed by a firefighter who said, ‘Walk
down the middle of the road, because you don’t know what’s going to come down.’
At which point, we heard a rumble like I’ve never heard before, and a
firefighter ran towards me. We ran as fast as we could. I lost my shoes. I fell
down. He picked me up and slammed me into a wall and covered me with him until
we could make it more to safety.”
John Slattery:
“Was this from the first rolling blast or the second?”
Carol Marin:
“John, I looked at my watch. It was about 10:44, is what my watch said. So it
was after the second tower, I think the second tower explosion.”
Note: The focus
of Marin’s account is one of several widely corroborated explosions that
occurred between 10:38 AM and 11:30 AM after both towers had come down.
However, Marin’s reporting qualifies her as an explosion reporter in regard to
the Twin Towers because she references “the second tower explosion,” and it is
clear she interprets the towers’ destruction as an explosion-based event.
25. John
Slattery, WCBS
11:44 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“There were
many tears. There was an awful lot of anguish. And then, with subsequent
explosions, and when a portion of World Trade 1 hit the ground, there was an
enormous burst, a cloud of smoke and debris that started moving north.”
26. Marcella
Palmer, WCBS
Unknown time,
Eyewitness Reporting
Marcella
Palmer: “We heard another explosion. And I’m assuming that’s the one that came
from the lower level, since there were two.”
Unidentified
Anchor: “Right, because it was like 18 minutes apart?”
Palmer: “Well, this
is — no, the first explosion, then there was a second explosion in the same
building. There were two explosions.”
27. Vince
DeMentri, WCBS
Unknown time,
Narrative Reporting
“Very difficult
to breathe, but look around. This must have been Ground Zero where this thing
blew up. Car after car after car, buses, completely burned and obliterated
straight down to the steel.”
28. Walter
Perez, WNBC
9:59 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“We’re not sure
exactly what happened, but it was another explosion on the far side of one of
the buildings from where we’re standing. The reverberation — and another
explosion on the right-hand side! Another building has gone up on the
right-hand side of the road. People are now running down the street. We’re not
sure if that was another explosion or if that was advanced debris.”
10:00 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“At this point,
as you can tell, there’s absolute pandemonium in this area because of what has
just happened. Exactly what, I can’t confirm. But on the far side of the
building, there seemed to be another explosion and also on the right-hand side,
there was also another explosion. We’re not sure if that was extra
reverberation from what happened at the World Trade Center or if that was an
added explosion. At this point, there’s a lot of smoke, massive plumes of smoke
falling from the building across the street. People that were running down the
street or walking are now running away. We don’t have any information as far as
what the most recent reverberations were. But from two blocks away you could
feel what happened.”
10:27 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“As you can
imagine, it was a pretty frenzied scene here. Just a few moments ago, I’d say
about 20 minutes ago, we’re not sure exactly what it was, we have not confirmed
it. But something either exploded or fell off the side of the one building that
was attacked and caused a massive plume of smoke.”
29. Kristen
Shaughnessy, NY1
9:59 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
“Oh, it is just
coming down, Pat. It is just coming down. It’s exploding. It is billowing. Pat,
the debris is flying. I’m going to run.”
10:42 AM, Narrative
Reporting
“Good morning
again, Pat. I am actually just across from City Hall, I don’t have to tell you.
With that second explosion the dust did not seem as bad.”
10:43 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“It’s
unbelievable because you hear these explosions. In fact, I just heard another
one — I don’t know if it was like an aftereffect or what not — just while you
were on the phone talking about the school closings. It wasn’t as big,
obviously, as the other ones. But it still sent a tremor all the way over here,
and I’m obviously on the other side of the World Trade Center, on the other
side of the city. And it’s just unbelievable.”
10:45 AM,
Narrative Reporting
Kristen
Shaughnessy: “I’m hearing another explosion, just so you know. I’m hearing
another rumble. It’s not as bad as the other ones were. But, I don’t know if
you have pictures.”
Sharon
Dizenhuz: “We have a picture and we don’t see anything beyond the enormous
billows of smoke that have been there. But no additional bursts from our
vantage point.”
Shaughnessy:
“Okay, didn’t mean to interrupt, Sharon. What you can feel when these tremors
come is that it literally comes up under your feet. That’s what it feels like.
That’s the best way I know to describe it.”
30. Andrew
Siff, NY1
10:12 AM,
Eyewitness Reporting
Sharon
Dizenhuz: “Andrew, when you saw this happen, what did it look like to you at
close range? Because to us it seemed almost like dominoes, you know, going
floor by floor by floor.”
Andrew Siff:
“It was a little difficult to tell at first to figure out what was happening.
We heard an explosion. We heard either an explosion or the sound of something
making impact. We were in the middle. I was with news assistant Jason Post, and
we were walking down West Street. And when we heard the sound we whipped around
and saw just a buckling of the tower. And it just looked like it collapsed
within itself. You could just see the top of the tower collapse. We can’t tell
what happened to the bottom half of the tower from here.”
31. John
Schiumo, NY1
10:18 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“There’s
another explosion as we speak!”
Note: Although
the phenomenon Schiumo describes occurs between the destruction of the two
towers, which happened to the South Tower at 9:59 AM and the North Tower 10:28
AM, we classify him as an explosion reporter because he refers to it as
“another explosion” — thus suggesting he understood the destruction of the
South Tower to be an explosion-based event — and because the explosion he
describes may have come from the North Tower and been related to its eventual
destruction 11 minutes later.
32. Andrew Kirtzman,
NY1
11:11 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“Mayor Giuliani
appeared about 45 minutes ago on Chambers Street near Church Street. We began
walking up Church Street when the second building proceeded to collapse, and a
huge plume of smoke flew up into the air, went up into the air, and the mayor
and his party started running up 6th Avenue. A plainclothes detective threw his
arm around Mayor Giuliani as we took off, not knowing what the repercussions of
a second explosion would be.”
11:12 AM,
Narrative Reporting
“And for about
10 minutes they tried to break into the fire station as the mayor stood by and
the police commissioner stood by waiting to set up an operations center. That’s
— kind of wanted to paint a picture of kind of the seat-of-the-pants operation
that they’ve been forced to construct here because of the explosion downtown.”
33. Jack
Kelley, USA Today
Unknown time
apparently around 5:30 PM, Source-based Reporting
Jack Kelley:
“Apparently, what appears to have happened is that at the same time two planes
hit the building, that the FBI most likely thinks that there was a car or truck
packed with explosives underneath the building which also exploded at the same
time and brought both of them down.”
USA Today
Anchor: “Now that’s the first time we’re hearing that. So two planes and
explosives that were in the building, is that correct?”
Kelley: “That
is the working theory at this point. That is still unconfirmed, but that is
what the FBI is going on at this point.”
34. First
Unidentified Reporter at Giuliani and Pataki Press Conference
2:43 PM,
Narrative Reporting
“Do you know
anything about the cause of the explosions that brought down the two buildings
yet? Was it caused by the planes or by something else? Those second
explosions.”
35. Marcia
Kramer, WCBS, at Giuliani and Pataki Press Conference
2:44 PM,
Narrative Reporting
“Mr. Mayor,
could you tell us, do you expect any further attacks on New York? Is there
anything to indicate that there could be more bombs, more planes out there? I
know originally there was a report that eight planes had been hijacked. Four
have only been accounted for. What about the remaining four? And is there any
possibility that there could be bombs on the ground planted by someone?”
Meyssan,
Thierry
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Note: Kramer
was in the studio when the destruction of the Twin Towers occurred, but later
went into the field to conduct reporting, including attending the afternoon
press conference with Mayor Giuliani and Governor Pataki. While watching the
destruction of the first tower from the studio in the morning, Kramer
hypothesized that it was caused by an explosion or bomb, which explains the
rationale for her questions during the press conference.
At 10:02 AM,
three minutes after the destruction of the first tower, she stated, “Right now
police have to determine if whether that explosion was caused from the initial
impact of the plane or whether it was something that was exploded on the
ground. Generally speaking, for a building to collapse in on itself like that,
it would seem to indicate — obviously, this is just early speculation — but it
would seem to indicate that there could have been an explosion, a bomb planted
on the ground, that would make the building collapse within itself.” Then, at
10:14 AM, she stated, “Well, we have a number of updates. Number one: CNN is
now reporting that there was a third explosion at the World Trade Center,
probably an explosion from the ground that caused World Trade Center 1 to
collapse on top of itself. Again, there was a third explosion. It is unclear
what caused it, whether it was a bomb or whether the first plane that crashed
into the tower had somehow been booby-trapped with a bomb that was timed to
explode later after the crash had occurred. But CNN is reporting that there was
a third explosion that caused World Trade Center 1 to collapse within itself
and then collapse on other surrounding buildings.”
This is a brief
glimpse at how CNN and one of the anchors at WCBS interpreted the destruction
of the Twin Towers. In our next article, we will delve much deeper into how the
anchors at each of networks interpreted destruction of the Twin Towers.
36. Second
Unidentified Reporter at Giuliani and Pataki Press Conference
2:54 PM,
Narrative Reporting
“So the only
National Guard we’ll see will be in Lower Manhattan in the bomb site area, they
won’t be patrolling the rest of Manhattan?”
Appendix B:
Statements by Four Non-Explosion Reporters
1. Don Dahler,
ABC
10:00 AM
Peter Jennings:
“[Don] Dahler from ABC’s Good Morning America is down in the general vicinity.
[Don], can you tell us what has just happened?”
Don Dahler:
“Yes, Peter. It’s Don Dahler down here. I’m four blocks north of the World
Trade Center. The second building that was hit by the plane has just completely
collapsed. The entire building has just collapsed as if a demolition team set
off — when you see the old demolitions of these old buildings. It folded down
on itself and it is not there anymore.”
Jennings:
“Thanks very much, [Don].”
Dahler: “It has
completely collapsed.”
Jennings: “The
whole side has collapsed?”
Dahler: “The
whole building has collapsed!”
Jennings: “The
whole building has collapsed?”
Dahler: “The building
has collapsed.”
Jennings:
“That’s the southern tower you’re talking about?”
Dahler:
“Exactly. The second building that we witnessed the airplane enter has been —
the top half had been fully involved in flame. It just collapsed. There is
panic on the streets. Thousands of people running up Church Street, which is
what I’m looking out on, trying to get away. But the entire — at least as far
as I can see, the top half of the building — at least half of it, I can’t see
below that — half of it just started with a gigantic rumble, folded in on
itself, and collapsed in a huge plume of smoke and dust.”
10:02 AM
Jennings: “The
southern tower, 10:00 eastern time this morning, just collapsing on itself.
This is a place where thousands of people work. We have no idea what caused
this. If you wish to bring — anybody who’s ever watched a building being
demolished on purpose knows that if you’re going to do this you have to get at
the under infrastructure of a building and bring it down.”
Dahler:
“Peter?”
Jennings: “Yes,
Dan.”
Dahler: “What
appeared to happen from my vantage point, the top part of the building was
totally involved in fire, and there appeared to be no effort possible to put
that fire out. It looked like the top part of the building was so weakened by
the fire the weight of it collapsed the rest of the building. That’s what appeared
to happen. I did not see anything happening at the base of the building. It all
appeared to start at the top and then just collapse the rest of the building by
the sheer weight of it. There was no explosion or anything at the base part of
it. But I did see that the top part of it started to collapse. The walls
started to bulge out, glass things coming out. And then it collapsed down on
itself. And then it appeared to just fold down from there, from the very top.”
Jennings:
“Thanks, Don, very much.”
2. Drew
Millhon, ABC
11:09 AM
“I was at the
corner of Varick and Canal, which is about 10 to 12 blocks north of the World
Trade Center, where roughly 300 to 400 people were gathered watching the flames
and the smoke from both the World Trade Centers going through the air. And I
began to cross the street and I heard a collective scream from this group of
people. And I looked up and the first World Trade Center that collapsed was
falling down. The shriek lasted for quite a long time. And then many of these
people fell into tears, just crying and sobbing. ‘I don’t know where my mother
is. I don’t know where my friends are.’ That sort of thing was heard all around
this crowd.”
3. Bob Bazell,
NBC
10:08 AM
“I was actually
standing and saw that collapse. And everybody here [at St. Vincent’s hospital
on West 12th Street] just gasped. Even the medical workers and the ambulance
attendants when they saw that, people who are used to tragedy, grabbed each
other and hugged each other. And some started to cry.”
4. John Zito,
MSNBC
10:36 AM
Chris Jansing:
“Were you able to feel the collapse of that second tower?”
John Zito: “The
second tower, no. But the first tower that went down, I was very close, I’d say
about five blocks away. And CNBC’s Ron Insana and I were trying to hook up with
a truck or find any NBC contact down there. And we were very close to when that
tower came down. And debris came showering down, and Ron and I both ran for
cover. I managed to get inside an alcove of buildings. And all the scaffolding
around collapse in front of me and broke the window next to me. And I climbed
inside that and stayed in there for about 10 minutes. I couldn’t get out of
there. It was pitch black outside.”
Appendix C:
Borderline Cases
This appendix
contains three borderline cases that we determined could not be clearly
classified as explosion or non-explosion reporters.
1. Minah
Kathuria, NBC
Kathuria is a
borderline case because it is unclear whether she suspects the destruction of
the South Tower to have been a demolition or whether she is merely likening the
destruction to a demolition in its appearance. In the case of Don Dahler, who
is included in Appendix B as a non-explosion reporter, it is clear that he ultimately
interpreted the destruction as a fire-induced collapse even though he likened
the destruction to a demolition in its appearance.
10:11 AM
“We’re on the
corner of Duane and West Broadway walking down towards the Twin Towers, and it
just collapsed. It looked like a — it looked sort of like the building just
demolished. Smoke, clouds — I mean, clouds of smoke everywhere.”
2. Brian
Palmer, CNN
Palmer is a
borderline case because he is asked by CNN’s Aaron Brown if it sounded like an
explosion or just the sound of the collapse itself, and he does not favor one
interpretation over the other, and he describes the sound as a “boom,” which
was not strong enough in our view to classify him as an explosion reporter. We
view Palmer as being distinct from Alan Dodds Frank, who, although he did not
commit to one interpretation over the other, readily asserted the possibility
that the destruction of the towers was an explosion-based event.
10:41 AM
Aaron Brown:
“Brian, did it sound like there was an explosion before the second collapse, or
was the noise the collapse itself?”
Brian Palmer:
“Well, from our distance, I was not able to distinguish between an explosion
and the collapse. We were several hundred yards away. But we clearly saw the
building come down. I heard your report of a fourth explosion: I can’t confirm
that. But we heard some ‘boom’ and then the building fold in on itself.”
3. Maria Bartiromo,
CNBC
Bartiromo is a
borderline case because she repeatedly uses the word “explosion” and her
description of what she witnessed corroborates the explosion hypothesis, but
although she uses the word “explosion” to describe what she witnessed, she attributes
it to the sound of the buildings collapsing.
10:14 AM
Maria
Bartiromo: “Now I’m standing on the floor of the exchange. But I just came back
from outside and I am covered with soot. Basically, I was outside when that
third explosion occurred. . . . The whole area turned pitch black when that
third explosion happened. . . . I don’t know if you can see my jacket and my
shoes, but I’m completely covered in white smoke from that third explosion.”
Unidentified
Anchor: “Maria, do you know what that explosion was?”
Meyssan,
Thierry
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Bartiromo:
“That was about 10 — I’d say 15 minutes ago.”
Unidentified
Anchor: “But do you know what caused it?”
Bartiromo: “No,
I don’t.”
Mark Haines:
“At the moment, Maria — and for the people with you — at the moment there are
eyewitnesses who feel that another plane, a third plane . . .”
Bartiromo:
“Yes, some people are saying that . . .”
Haines: “. . .
hit the base of the South Tower.”
Bartiromo: “I
was under the impression that it was just the actual collapse of the building.
But some people are speculating that. I didn’t want to say that because . . .
.”
Haines: “We had
— at the moment it happened — we had MSNBC’s feed up, and we could hear people
shouting ‘a third plane, a third plane.’ And then there was an explosion —
‘another plane, another plane,’ and there was an explosion.”
Bartiromo:
“That’s right. And I was outside during that explosion.”
10:49 AM
“The second
explosion I witnessed was about 10:00 AM, and that was, in retrospect, the
collapse of that tower. And again, debris came at us. The whole area turned
pitch black. All we could see was smoke. We couldn’t even breathe practically.
We were closing our eyes. I actually went under the building across the New
York Stock Exchange.”
12:24 PM
“I walked
outside a little while ago. There are dust, white dust, this thick on the
floor. Debris and smoke just settling after the explosions. I mentioned to you
earlier in the coverage that I myself witnessed two of the explosions. The
first one that I witnessed was when the second plane went into the second
tower. And truly it was out of a movie. This plane going right in, putting a
hole into the second tower. The second thing that I myself witnessed, the
further collapse of one of the towers. And this huge bang down on Wall Street.
Everyone ran for their lives.”
1:01 PM
“I was outside
a little while ago. It almost looks like there’s snow on the ground. There are
piles, and really just a thick sheet of dust — white, white dust — from the
explosion. . . . Then about 15 minutes later I went back outside, thinking that
it was safe again. And lo and behold I witnessed the third explosion, which of
course was the sound of the tower collapsing. And at that time, when I heard
the tower collapsing — again, it was a huge, huge thump and explosion noise.
You’re looking at the scene right now. And that’s what we were all watching.
The building collapsed. We all ran for our lives. Metal and papers and debris
were flying at us in the face.”
1:37 PM
“Then, 10 minutes
or 15 minutes later, I walked out there again thinking that, you know, we had
seen the worst. And, of course, then there was a third explosion. And that
third explosion was the sound of the second tower collapsing.”
2:42 PM
“Bob and I took
a walk together outside and we came back really, really covered with it
earlier, when I witnessed that third explosion, the third explosion being the
collapse of one of the towers.”
The original
source of this article is ae911truth.org,
Ted Walter is
the director of strategy and development for AE911Truth. He is the author of
AE911Truth’s 2015 publication Beyond Misinformation: What Science Says About
the Destruction of World Trade Center Buildings 1, 2, and 7 and its 2016
publication World Trade Center Physics: Why Constant Acceleration Disproves
Progressive Collapse and co-author of AE911Truth’s 2017 preliminary assessment
of the Plasco Building collapse in Tehran. He holds a Master of Public Policy
degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Graeme MacQueen
received his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Harvard University and taught in
the Religious Studies Department of McMaster University for 30 years. While at
McMaster he became founding Director of the Centre for Peace Studies at
McMaster, after which he helped developed the B.A. program in Peace Studies and
oversaw the development of peace-building projects in Sri Lanka, Gaza, Croatia
and Afghanistan. Other works in MacQueen’s body of historical 9/11 research
include: 118 Witnesses: The Firefighters' Testimony to Explosions in the Twin
Towers; Waiting for Seven: WTC 7 Collapse Warnings in the FDNY Oral Histories;
Did the Earth Shake Before the South Tower Hit the Ground?; Eyewitness Evidence
of the Twin Towers' Explosive Destruction; and Foreknowledge of Building 7's
Collapse.
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