The following is a transcript of the live CBS network telecast recorded off the District of Columbia affiliate Channel 9, on Sept. 11, 2001, segment: 8:31am-9:12am and archived in the www.archive.org Sept 11 TV Archive, coverage of the opening moments of the September 11, 2001 disaster.
It is perfected to about the 95 percentile in the "ah's" and "um's" and "unhuh's."
Bryant Gumble is sole anchor.
After first interviewing a waiter in a Soho restaurant and a doorman at the Marriott Trade Center Hotel, who conveniently fill in the time between the airplane strikes, Bryant begins an interview with Theresa Reynaud, wife of a segment producer on the The Early Show, Jack Renaud. She was a vice president at Deutsch Advertising with offices at 8th Avenue and 16th St. in Chelsea. She was the one who "saw" the second plane hit the building while Bryant did not, probably because his screen was blank. Even on the first replay, Bryant didn't see a plane.
Much has been written about Reynaud's role in "creating" the plane, but until I heard this tape I didn't realize, she'd also attributed motive and intent, saying of the second plane "That definitely looked like it was on purpose," causing Bryant to respond, "(pause) Why do you say that it was definitely on purpose?" To which she replied, "It’s because it just… it just flew straight into it, there’s not, it didn’t look like it, ah, and it didn’t look like it was a commercial jet, it definitely was a smaller plane (pause) it definitely was a smaller plane (pause, heavy breathing.) Cornered=Change Subject.
Then, bizarrely, I think, the next interviewee, Richard Davis, behaves the same way, arrogantly attributing a motive, and since he was claiming to have seen both planes, Bryant had two reactions saying with a degree of incredulousness: "Why do you say “very deliberately?” first, and then "Why do you say the second one was intentional?" "Because the pilot aimed right for the building, and there was nothing wrong with the plane," he say, and "Because it was flown very…deliberately, there appeared to be nothing wrong with the aircraft, it was flown very deliberately into the building," then Davis grows testy with Bryant, which I find an odd emotion on 9-11.
So what do you think the odds are that the last eyewitness would also ascribe a willful malicious intent to the event underway, while most of us were experiencing a phenomena, needing to pass through grief at least before we marched off into war?
But the third guy, Frederick Schneider, a lawyer, does just that, saying he heard the first explosion and then "saw the plane that had crashed into the trade center, ah fall down, and then it disappeared behind a building that blocks my view, " which is not reconcilable with the Naudet brothers at minimum.
He goes on to say, "At that point all the news media started to learn about it and when I turned on my radio, and while I was still sitting at my desk I saw a second jet, a fairly large plane fly in over the south end of Manhattan and deliberately fly directly into the trade center before my eyes."
Bryant:: (sadly) Why do you say ‘deliberately fly into the trade center?
Frederick: "Because…um…there was no doubt in my mind that both planes were using the trade center as a target. They weren’t in trouble…" (tape ends here)
But Frederick couldn't have seen the first plane. I don't see how he could have known it was a plane at all. And look at the way he sequences "the media found out" followed by "I turned on my radio,"
The Pentagon eyewitnesses are also rife with this sort of early case building for war. It is a shibboleth which exposes them as a group. It is not enough in and of itself to convict someone, but the details of who knew what, when, are especially damning when seen clumped up on Bryant like that. Bryant found something odd about the behavior three separate times,which makes them accessories before the fact, and oh dear God--do we have accessories after the fact!
Do you see the sequence? Two working-class guys used as time fillers between the first and second crashes, and then pull out the stops--we are going to war. A high percentage of the Pentagon eyewitness list is fabricated, in my opinion, and apparently the shills were out in force in New York too. The CBS producers who brought forth these last three onto network TV are likely going to the gallows along with them.
Bryant is representative of us, the emotionally altered beings, confused by the quick rush to judgment. Bryant succumbs before our very eyes, we can see it happening in the first 30 minutes. "Oh ya, he says, the plane didn't wobble, I get it," because he was all alone. Well it's six years later and he's not alone anymore.
CBS September 11, 2001 8:31am – 9:12am
21:11 The CBS Special Report theme music and logo appears
21:23 (8:52) Bryant Gumble: It’s 8:52, I’m Bryant Gumble, we understand there has been a plane crash in the southern tip of Manhattan, you’re looking at a picture of the World Trade Center. We understand a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center, we don’t know any more than that. We don’t know if it was a commercial aircraft, we don’t know if it is a private aircraft, we have no idea how many were onboard or what the extent of the injuries are. We are…we have, I understand, an eyewitness on the phone right now, 21:53 (a commercial interrupts 21:55)Sir, what is your name?
Stuart: My name is Stuart
Bryant: Stuart where are you right now?
Stuart: I’m working at a restaurant in Soho.
Bryant: Alright, so tell us what you saw if you would?
Stuart: I literally, I was waiting a table and I literally saw a, it seemed to be like a small plane, I just heard a couple of noises, it looked like it bounced off the building, and then I heard, I saw, a huge, like, ball of fire on top, and then the smoke seemed to simmer down, it’s done, a lot of smoke is coming out and that’s pretty much the extent of what I saw.
Bryant: A private aircraft?
Stuart: Ah, I’m not sure, if it was a, it just seemed like a smaller plane. I don’t think it was anything commercial.
Bryant: Did you, could you tell us anything, whether it was a prop or a jet?
Stuart: I honestly don’t know, it happened too quickly.
Bryant: Ah, characterize the scene for us down there right now if you would.
Stuart: Excuse me?
Bryant: Can you tell us about the scene down there, right now.
Stuart: Right now people are just out on the street looking at the building, there’s just a lot of smoke, um, it’s not too crazy down where I am, but I’m…
Bryant: How far away from the World Trade Center specifically are you?
Stuart: I’m actually on Thompson Street, north, I’m not too, too far.
Bryant: It’s 8:54 now Stuart. Can you tell me when this happened exactly?
Stuart: I would have to say about ten minutes ago.
Bryant: About ten minutes ago.
Stuart: Ya.
Bryant: Is this normally an area that is, that is heavily trafficked by aircraft, or is this an area that aircraft steer clear of?
Stuart: You know, I can’t, I really don’t know that information.
Bryant: Unhuh. Is, is there much panic around there?
Stuart: Just people coming out and looking there was panic at first but it seemed to slow down right now.
Bryant: We’re looking at a picture of a great deal of smoke coming out of the building. Can you please tell us, was there, after you, you heard this crash, was there
smoke immediately?
Stuart: No, there was like a big ball of fire on top of the building and then as that simmered down there seemed to be a ton of smoke, and yea so, ya, pretty much
immediately.
Bryant: I hear a fire engine in the background um, has that been going since, a since you saw this crash, or is that kind of a late arrival?
Stuart: It happened almost pretty much after we heard the crash pretty quick.
Bryant: Pretty much after you heard the crash.
Stuart: Pretty much.
Bryant: Ya.
Stuart: It was pretty quick we heard sirens and you know, people acting on it.
Bryant: Did you, were you looking up as the plane approached the building or did it only call, catch your attention after it a crashed into the world trade center?
Stuart: I heard like a sort of crashing sound but I looked up, I looked up quick enough to actually see something go into the building but everything happened so fast I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at.
Bryant: So there’s no way you can know whether or not the plane seemed to be in trouble?
Stuart: No, no.
Bryant: Before it crashed into the building?
Stuart: Oh no. No, I couldn’t tell.
Bryant: It’s hard for us to tell from the picture we’re seeing, just ah how far down from the top that plane crashed, have you any better eyesight to it?
Stuart: Um.
Bryant: From your vantage point.
Stuart: Ah not really, all I know is it definitely wasn’t the top, top of the building, because that seems to be intact from what I saw, um, I really can’t tell.
Bryant: Unhuh, can you tell us anything about um how much debris came crashing to the ground and whether or not um, anybody was hurt as a result?
Stuart: I honestly don’t know I just saw a lot of what looked like a lot of tumbling glass maybe, just a lot of stuff falling down but I can’t tell you debris-wise.
Bryant: Unhuh. Obviously the timing of this is important. It comes before 9 o’çlock, um, perhaps, perhaps, and we say that in a hopeful fashion, perhaps not everybody was at work, um because ah if that building was in fact crowded with workers, we’re looking at probably looking at some casualties and injuries of considerable proportions, but right now there’s no way of telling that, um, Mr…ah, Stuart, just one more time. And I know I’m exhausting what little information you have but we have people joining us, um, every moment, take me through again, where you were, when this happened, what you saw.
Stuart: I was, um, serving tables at a restaurant and I just heard sort of like a boom sound it almost sounded like an earthquake sound and I looked up and I saw literally something like, it might even have bounced off a little bit, of the building and the next thing I know I saw a big ball of fire on the top of the building and just lots of smoke and what looked like debris or glass falling down and it happened really quick it’s really hard to, ah…
Bryant: OK Stuart I thank you very much I appreciate that sir.
Stuart: OK my pleasure.
Bryant: Thank you.
Stuart: OK.
26:31
Bryant: We’re on the line with ah another eyewitness sir ah this is Bryant Gumble in New York
Wendell Klein: Ah, how ya doing?
Bryant: I’m fine. You’re Wendell?
Wendell: Yes I am.
Bryant: Wendell, can you give me your last name?
Wendell: Klein.
Bryant: Mr. Klein, Can you tell me where are you right now?
Wendell: Right now I’m at back in the hotel, the hotel office, front offices.
Bryant: Where were you?
Wendell: I was standing right in front of the trade…the hotel, I’m the doorman there, and um...
Bryant: The hotel, the hotel, which hotel?
Wendell: The Marriott World Trade Center.
Bryant: Right across from the World Trade Center?
Wendell: It’s actually right in between them.
Bryant: Right in between the World Trade Center?
Wendell: Yes.
Bryant: Ok So you were standing outside and, tell us what you saw and what you heard?
Wendell: Well I, what I heard first was an explosion, and I just figured it just a plane passing by then all of a sudden stuff just started falling, like bricks and paper and everything and I ah just kind of ran inside to get away from the falling debris and glass and so forth and then after like everything had stopped falling into the street and cars were passing into each other and when it stopped I heard a guy screaming and when I looked over there was this guy who was on fire so I kind of like ran over and I like tried to put the fire out on him and he was, he was like just screaming and I told him to just roll, roll and he said I can’t then another guy came over with his bag and kind of put the flames out on him so, right now he’s being taken care of and everyone called the ambulance and stuff to help him out.
Bryant: He caught fire as a result of the falling debris?
Wendell: Ya.
Bryant: How much debris, can you give us an idea how much debris Came crashing to the ground?
Wendell: Oh man, just a lot bricks, a lot of bricks, a lot of glass um enough to like, damage cars on the street, make cars swerve into each other, that kind of thing.
Bryant: Any other people on the ground that you saw hurt?
Wendell: Just him so far.
Bryant: Tell me about the traffic down in that area, and I’m talking about human traffic.
Wendell: Human Traffic-wise? Right, Well on my side, where I’m standing there’s not a whole lot because it basically right in front of the hotel so you don’t get too much but you do get enough, you get some.
Bryant: What about traffic in the building I mean you work basically between the two towers
Wendell: Yes.
Bryant: Um, are most people arriving for work before or after 9am?
Wendell: Before, basically in my hotel I have people who are leaving and going to meetings outside my hotel I just have people waiting for their cars to take them to their various destinations that kind of thing.
Bryant: I hear alarms going off down there what’s happening?
Wendell: That’s our hotel alarm and basically I guess that went off automatically. They’ve evacuated everyone in the hotel in back of it are all the employees.
Bryant: They have evacuated the hotel?
Wendell: Yes.
Bryant: Immediately?
Wendell: Yes.
Bryant: Can you give me an idea of what the scene is like down there?
Wendell: What the what is like?
Bryant: What the scene is like at the World Trade Center?
Wendell: People are like crying and panicking and want to know what is going on. When I came inside there was a lot of people who wanted to go out to see what was going on but the security kind of kept them at bay, kept them inside, um basically right now I still have people going toward the bar area, they’re trying to evacuate everyone out of here, that kind of thing
Bryant: Is this an area um, Mr. Klein, that is normally trafficked by small planes, or is it an area they generally steer clear of?
Wendell: Um you do get some I see some passing um basically the planes I do see passing are like those, you know like in Washington DC area.
Bryant: Unhuh.
Wendell: It wouldn’t be like huge planes, but big enough.
Bryant: Are you hearing anything Wendell about what kind of plane it was?
Wendell: No, no.
Bryant: Or how many were on board?
Wendell: No, basically all I got was my wife calling me and she told me it was a plane crash and basically I really don’t know what is going on so far.
Bryant: Do you know if it was a private aircraft or a commercial plane?
Wendell: That I don’t know.
Bryant: You don’t know?
Wendell: No sir.
Bryant: Your not seeing any evidence of people being carried out of the building yet?
Wendell: Um ah, there’s a woman they just carried I guess she fainted or something I don’t see any physical injuries to her.
Bryant: Alright Mr. Klein thank you very much sir.
Wendell: Good talking with you sir.
Bryant: I appreciate it.
Wendell: Bye bye.
Bryant: I understand a Theresa Reynaud is with us right now, Miss Reynaud, good morning
Theresa Reynaud: Good morning, how are you?
Bryant: This is Bryant Gumble, I’m down at 59 and Fifth. Where are you?
Theresa: I am in Chelsea and we are at 8th and 16th. We’re the tallest building in the area and we, my window faces south, so it looks directly onto the World Trade Center and I would say approximately ten minutes ago there was a major explosion from probably it looks like about the eightieth floor, it looks like its probably affected from four to eight floors, major flames are coming out of the, let’s see, the north side and also the east side of the building, yes and it was a very large explosion followed by flames, and it looks like the building is still on fire on the inside.
Bryant: Which building are we talking about, the westernmost?
Theresa: Um, let’s see, yes sir.
Bryant: So it’s coming out of the north side and the east side of the building of the westernmost tower?
Theresa: That’s correct.
Bryant: Um you’re over in Chelsea um did you hear the explosion from your position?
Theresa: Oh yes as a matter of fact we heard it cause I was just standing there pretty much just looking out the window I didn’t see what caused it or if there was an impact.
Bryant: So you have no idea…
31:54 9:02am Theresa: Oh! There’s another one! Another plane just hit! Oh! Oh my God! Another plane has just hit another building! Flew right into the middle of it! An explosion! My God, it’s right in the middle of the building
Bryant: This went into the east tower?
Theresa: Yes. Yes. 32:11-32:15 (breathing, also something cut)
Right in the middle of the building. It’s. Right now. Yes. That definitely looked like it was on purpose.
Bryant: (Incredulous) You saw a plane…
Theresa: Yes. I just saw a plane go into the building.
Bryant: (pause) Why do you say that was on definitely on purpose?
Theresa: It’s because it just… it just flew straight into it, there’s not, it didn’t look like it ah, and it didn’t look like it was a commercial jet, it definitely was a smaller plane (pause) it definitely was a smaller plane (pause, heavy breathing)
Bryant: Can you characterize the scene down there right now for us
Theresa: Right now?
Bryant: For us.
Theresa: Yes.
Bryant: As you look down the street.
Theresa: On...
Bryant: From your vantage point.
Theresa: On the second building, the further one, the east side, there, it looks like it is about ah 15 floors lower than the first building and there is now flames coming out of that building as well they’re both completely on fire.
Bryant: Now I’m looking at what was the west tower and it looks like um the fire on the north side is a little bit lower but it looks like it’s the same building you’re saying it was the other tower that absorbed the second impact.
Theresa: That’s what it looked like. Exactly from my perspective.
Bryant: Don King, our director if I could ask you to widen out and gives us a shot of both towers because I can’t, I, we can’t tell, oh OK, that is on the second tower, it is on the east tower, Theresa, hang on with us one second.
Theresa: Certainly.
Bryant: We’re going to re-rack the tape of when we were talking to you to see if we can tell.
Theresa: OK.
Bryant: We can’t see anything a second plane in the picture there we see the explosion.
Theresa: Yes.
Bryant: The explosion...
Theresa: It definitely was a plane that hit it.
Bryant: Here we are we’re trying to re-rack the tape right now. Theresa do you have a vantage point to the ground from where you are right now?
Theresa: Ah, yes I probably could go down.
Bryant: No I’m not asking you to go down I’m asking you if you can see it.
Theresa: Oh no, I can not see the ground as a matter of fact, there are too many buildings in the way, I could probably see just about a third, about the top two-thirds of the building.
Bryant: Unhuh and about how much of the top third of the buildings do you see flames, see damage?
Theresa: Ah I would say middle of the second building and the top fourth of the first building.
Bryant: OK Theresa stay with us we’re going to look for that tape one more time, we’re going to re-rack the tape and see if we can’t see a plane, ya we see it right now a plane coming in right now and impacting what would appear to be the north side of that tower, of the westernmost tower.
Theresa: Unhuh.
Bryant: And hitting about ten or 15 stories below, Theresa let me ask you to hang on for a second as I talk with another gentleman who is an eyewitness, Richard Davis, Mr. Davis, good morning.
Richard Davis: Good morning.
Bryant: This is Bryant Gumble,
Davis: Yes sir
Bryant: I’m at 59th ands Fifth, where are you?
Davis: Ah, I’m at, ah, 50th and ah, Fifth, but I’m facing south on the 39th floor.
Bryant: You’re facing south, so you have a clear vantage point?
Davis: Yes.
Bryant: Talk to me about what you see if you could.
Davis: The first plane looked like a 737 it flew right up the middle of Manhattan, it was clearly too low, I noticed it ah, by the time it was passing the Empire State building and ah, noticed that it was too low, it appeared to be absolutely nothing wrong with the plane, and then it very deliberately ah flew into the side of the World Trade Center.
Bryant: Why do you say “very deliberately?”
Davis: Because the pilot aimed right for the building, and there was nothing wrong with the plane
Bryant: The plane did not appear to be in any trouble in any way whatsoever?
Davis: None whatsoever.
Bryant: And we’re talking about a commercial aircraft, a 737?
Davis: It appeared to be a 737, I can’t…be absolutely certain, I’m not a…
Bryant: Obviously, I’m not asking you to be an aviation expert, but clearly what you saw, or what you say you saw, not a small aircraft.
Davis: It was not a small aircraft. It was a small commercial aircraft, like a small Airbus, or 737 Boeing…a 2-engine jet.
Bryant: And that was the first plane...did you…did you see…we’re looking at a um, tape replay...
Davis: Ya
Bryant: ...of the second plane boring into the building. It’s hard for us to tell how large an aircraft it is, or whether or not it was intentional, um…go ahead, I’m sorry.
Davis: Believe me, it was such an intentional…we saw the second one come up the Hudson and veer into the second building.
Gumble: (pause) Why do you say the second one was intentional?
Davis: Because it was flown very…deliberately, there appeared to be nothing wrong with the aircraft, it was flown very deliberately into the building
Bryant: Have they, have, you don’t, obviously you’re at 50th, obviously you don’t have any vantage point down there. What is everybody else talking about there who have the same vantage point they see all the same thing you did?
Davis: Ah yes. Ah ah well the others did not see the first one but there were several people in my office when the second one came in.
Bryant: Ya we’re looking at the second one boring in right now and it does not seem to be wavering in any way or seem to be banking to avoid the tower in any way.
Davis: Let me say, it hardly be a coincidence that two airplanes fly into the World Trade Center within ten minutes of each other?
Bryant: Ya.
Davis: On a clear day.
Bryant: Ya…It’s a terrible scene right now.
Davis: Yes but the towers are…..(missing…..garbled…terrible?)
Bryant: Wow. Wow. Miss Reynaud, are you still on with me. Theresa Reynaud?
Theresa Reynaud: Yes I’m here
Bryant: Can you tell us if the scene has changed from your vantage point?
Theresa: I would say from my vantage point right now, it looks like there are very few flames coming out of the first tower, still a lot of smoke. The second tower we can still see flames coming out of the window, the north window, and, ah, a lot of smoke, a lot of smoke, the tops of the buildings are covered in smoke, ahm.
Bryant: And from your vantage point you can’t see anything that’s happening on the ground?
Theresa: No I can not...I hear a lot of sirens out on the street now ah you one thing you could see in the windows is all of the emergency system lights blinking off and on in the first tower, when that happened and I can’t see them anymore. And the second tower I cannot see any emergency lights in the building.
Bryant: Ya.
Theresa: Blinking.
Bryant: I’m going to thank you both right there and pass along word that we are getting from the FBI that at this point the FBI is trying to confirm, trying to confirm that this was an intentional act. Um, at this point its pure speculation, Mr. Davis has told us what he saw that it appeared the ah first plane, ah a large aircraft ah bored into the westernmost of the two towers in an intentional fashion um, while a, while we were, speaking moments ago, a second plane, hard to identify the size of it, bore it’s way into the easternmost tower so we have ah two crashes here is a different angle of the same plane you see it up there on the left ah boring…yaa…ah...boring into there. But again at this point um…it is restricted airspace, it is a clear day, so the suspicions are high these are intentional acts but the FBI is still trying to confirm that these are intentional acts. We have another eyewitness, sir, on the phone, good morning.
Frederick: Good morning Mr. Gumble.
Bryant: How are you?
Frederick: I’m fairly frightened, I have to say.
Bryant: Um, give me your name if you would.
Frederick: My name is Frederick Schneider, sir.
Bryant: Mr. Schneider, where are you?
Frederick: I am on Liberty St., which is the same street the trade center is on. I’m on the south side, and the trade center is on the north side, my office is on the 24th floor, so I have a very clear view of exactly what happened this morning and I’ve been here for two hours so I have been watching it unfold.
Bryant: Two hours!
Frederick: Yes, I got to my office at seven.
Bryant: Oh, I’m sorry. Tell me about the timetable about when things started to go terribly bad this morning.
Frederick: Well Mr. Gumble at about 8:50 this morning there was an explosion. I heard it first and then my building which is 51 stories tall shook and rocked, and then I saw a plume of flame shoot out of the trade center over the Hudson river, and then I saw the plane that had crashed into the trade center, ah fall down, and then it disappeared behind a building that blocks my view. There was a tremendous amount of smoke and then it started to rain huge pieces of paper and the paper continued to come down. At that point all the news media started to learn about it and when I turned on my radio, and while I was still sitting at my desk I saw a second jet, a fairly large plane fly in over the south end of Manhattan and deliberately fly directly into the trade center before my eyes.
Gumble: (sadly) Why do you say ‘deliberately fly into the trade center?’
Frederick: Because…um…there was no doubt in my mind that both planes were using the trade center as a target. They weren’t in trouble… tape ends
AJR Oct.01
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