CBS News9 Co-Anchors Mike Buchanan and Andrea Roane on September 11, 2001

Concerning media coverage of the September 11 2001 attack on the Pentagon, the local CBS affiliate, WUSA News9, whose parent is Gannett Broadcasting, can be noted for its singular level of access at the Pentagon, the degree of focus it put on the Pentagon, an over-emotionalism in its approach that day, and a profound and glaring non-professionalism.

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The Non-professionalism: News9 falsely represented that their cameraman was shooting a live video feed taken from a highway median on Washington Blvd., showing triage areas in front of the damaged Pentagon

---both implicitly---

Mike Buchanan, co-anchor (9:57am) "This is just going to be raw tape that Dave Statter is just feeding into us."

Andrea Roane, co-anchor (10:04am) "These are raw footage coming back, that’s our reporter there on the scene who will be giving us stories in just a few minutes."

---and explicitly---

Mike Buchanan: (10:16am) "All right, Dave Statter, reporting from the Pentagon. Here you can see from Dave’s camera shot several people being escorted out of the Pentagon."


In fact, military authorities, taking controlled shots of staged triage vignettes, operated this camera feed. In at least one case, at 9:58am, both Fox and CBS News9 simultaneously ran the identical live video, in which we see a single state police officer walking from left to right across the foreground, distinctively craning his neck to look up. This would have been impossible had News9 been filming and transmitting independently.

Fox, at least, was more honest, when shortly thereafter, a female announcer says, “Do we control that camera? We can pan back, oh I suppose we don’t control that camera.”

The on-scene News9 reporter, Dave Statter, implies he is reporting and interviewing from that location, using his own cameraman, "Mike," as his accompaniment and videographer.


At 9:58, Statter interviews a motorist named Michael Kelly off-screen, as the feed sends images to the studio of the Pentagon facade. Statter begins the interview by saying, “let me first describe the scene: this is the west side of the Pentagon, ah, the heliport side, off of Washington Blvd.”

At 10:05am Statter interviews two unnamed Pentagon office workers at the center median location, but a camera pans over to him for only two seconds; which he shoos away by saying, “Mike, why don’t you stay on and show the pictures over here, and I’ll talk to the eyewitnesses. You can look at what is going on--the fire-fighting efforts. We have a couple of people who were in the Pentagon at the time...tell me what happened?”

Not only would that millisecond pan not constitute a minimum “establishing” head shot, it is not even news journalism. Statter doesn’t even try and ask for names. The whole scenario was planned and executed by prior rehearsal with military authorities, to credibly establish Slatter's presence.

At 10:17am the FBI “evacuated” the highway area, and Andrea said “they are evacuating and moving back all of the news crews,” when in fact, there was only one man, from one crew, CBS News9, privileged enough to be pushed back.

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News9 promoted the official narrative of an attack by an American Airlines 757, starting early, and repeating often, without sufficient sourcing, or confirmation, ignoring a conflicting report that they should have given equal weight to early on, then they dogmatically reiterated the “fact” of an American Airlines 757.

At 9:41 Mike Buchanan and Andrea Roane interrupt network coverage out of New York with reports of an explosion at the Pentagon. “We don’t know what caused this.”

At 9:42am Andrea quotes “workers report sounds and a “rumble.”

At 9:43am Andrea says “Now we are hearing the Associated Press is quoting witnesses as saying it was an aircraft that crashed into the Pentagon and that is what we are looking at from Arlington Virginia, our Gannett cam, at this huge billowing dark smoke.” (Witnesses? Plural? How FUCKING dare she!)

At 9:43am Mike: (aggravatingly) So we’ve got two planes that plowed into the world trade center in New York and now we’ve got a plane plowing into the pentagon here in Arlington!
(The Seed has been planted. Less than three minutes in, since breaking into coverage.)

At 9:46 Mike quoting the Associated Press: “He said it was a large airliner"...“I saw the tail of a large airliner, it plowed into the Pentagon,” according to an Associated Press radio reporter."

(Neither Andrea nor Mike ever mention the name of the AP reporter—Dave Winslow--the witness, not "witnesses," who sourced the first AP news alert.)

At 9:48 Andrea conducts a phone interview with a credible eyewitness, Don Chauncey, who says he saw a white, “Gulf-Stream-type” commuter jet strike the Pentagon.


At 9:50 Andrea conducts a phone interview with Dawn Vignola, whose first words out of her mouth are: “American Airlines 757.” Dawn is being prompted in the background by a friend of her roommate, Mr. Tim Timmerman, who feeds her entire soundbites, which she repeats, sometimes incorrectly. When Andrea asks her how she identified the plane as an American Airlines 757, Dawn calls Timmerman her roommate, saying "he is an airplane-person."

At 9:55am, co-anchor Mike Buchanan says, referring to Timmerman and Vignola, “Some witnesses say it appeared to be an American Airlines, 757,” while co-anchor Andrea Roan robotically repeats the mantra: “American Airlines 757.” Neither mentions the conflicting report of the white, Gulf-Stream type commuter jet.

At 9:57am, Andrea said “What observers noted, and those were in the airline industry, so we kind of take what they’re saying, for..ah...at the word--757 American Airlines--they could see the plane, they could see the markings, crashed into the west side of the Pentagon, near the heliport.”

Andrea Roane can only be referring to the man Dawn Vignola wrongly referenced in the media as her “roommate,” Tim Timmerman, who she said was an “airplane-person,” which could mean anything from aficionado or hobbiest to industry or military top gun. (He is in fact, a Naval photographer, deeply implicated within the ranks of psy-op, CoIntelPro, and Total Informational Awareness-type programs.) Timmerman has never reappeared publicly since September 11th, 2001, so his true avionic scores remain unknown. CNN featured a prominent interview with him on the afternoon of 9-11 without checking his credentials or proof of residency. This constitutes journalistic fraud of a high rank.

At 10:04am, Andrea Roane says, “An Associated Press reporter says he saw the tail end of a large airliner plunge into the Pentagon building.” (Has anyone else ever noticed a code of sexual innuendo in that quote? Did the building quiver?)

At 10:04am Andrea Roane says, “these are raw footage coming back, that’s our reporter there on the scene who will be giving us stories in just a few minutes.”

At 10:05 FOX News reporter Audrey Barnes, sets up shop several thousand yards north of News9 near the intersection of Route 110 and Washington Blvd. She has a view of the staged Pentagon mayhem, such as the diesel-fuel smoke pot, via telephoto lens. She reports that the plane may have impacted the heliport rather than the building, indicating that that last-minute meme had had broad distribution, and further indicative of a serious problem in managing the aftermath of the strike drill.

At 10:06am Statter says, “We are looking at here, I believe, I don’t have a monitor, but I believe, one of the injured being taken away by Arlington Fire and Rescue.” Does he not have a monitor because it isn’t his camera? Is he manually looking to see where the camera is aimed to infer the image transmission?

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News9 worked to minimize errant or anomalous details that threatened the official narrative, such as the loud multiple secondary explosions.

At 10:09am Statter reports, “I just heard another explosion of some sort. It could be a secondary explosion of some sort, something happened but we just heard a loud pop just as you were coming to me, (convenient timing, as usual,) it seemed to be on the east of here, I can’t tell what it is, it might be something that is secondary to this because we’ve had a number of small explosions after the fire occurred.”

At 10:10am FOX News’s Audrey Barnes excitedly interrupts on-air to report, “We just heard another loud explosion!”

At 10:11am Statter sandwiches that Audrey Barnes' report with, “The reason they asked us to move back (they haven't been asked to begin moving back, so this is evidence of foreknowledge,) is because, of course, ("of course," is an example of more foreknowledge,) they are concerned about any secondary explosions. Again, I can’t tell you much more than a loud pop a few minutes ago that seemed a little bit different, a little bit different, then, then, um, um, the ones we heard earlier, which were on the outside, they could have been tires or something else.”

(As if Slatter needed help minimizing his "loud pops," perhaps from "tires," --what FOX News was calling, "another loud explosion,"--his CBS NEWS9 colleague provides some more cover:

At 10:17 News9 reporter Frank Herzog says, “I think I can answer Dave Statter's question about that secondary explosion, it wasn’t an explosion, that was the sonic boom of jet fighters that were scrambled out of Andrews Air Force base, we believe.”

(Dave Slatter didn't ask any questions; and Frank supposes two jet fighters were scrambled, but he references only one sonic boom.)

Daryl Donley says his famous fireball image wasn't of the impact, but of a secondary explosion, several minutes afterward. This is the scene that Statter does such a profound disservice to by referencing it as "tires popping;" his reporting of the multiple secondary explosions, which remain unaddressed and unexplained in the ASCE Pentagon Building Performance Report and the Arlington County After-Action Report, which can only be explained by combining a laundry list of multiple projectile shells fired in various trajectories, along with pre-planted, or ad hoc shaped charges to bring down a section of building in order to hide the evidence of what many people refer to as some sort of failed, or less than optimally successful exercise; with perhaps a test run of an exotic weapon or two, as seen in the anomalous behaviors of burning vehicles and patterns of window damage.


At 10:18am Andrea reinforces, "And we heard from Frank Herzog that boom that Dave thought he heard before, was, ah...air force jet scrambling high up in the sky, on alert." Confirmation bias brought to you by CBS.

At 10:18am, an NBC4 news reporter, interviewing Isabel James behind the earth mound at the Citgo gas station mentions three recent loud, unexplained booms they’ve both heard, getting James to go on record as hearing them also. James suggests "maybe gas lines exploding, I don't know," which is an awfully ambitious supposition for a passing motorist to hazard as a scenario. (So click on the link to see her further role stage managing the event--along with her Naval Command Center husband, Mike James.)

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Dave Statter and News9 worked to shield details of the attack to protect the official narrative, even sacrificing possible award-winning video.

At 10:15am Mike Buchanan says, “Frank Herzog, thanks very much. Let me just read you the lead, the Associated Press lead, it just came out of New York (pause) first of all...let’s check in with Dave Statter at the Pentagon, Dave”...

...just as, at 10:15am, Dave Statter says, “Ah! Oh it collapsed right now, as you can see, I assume you’re taking our picture, I do not have a monitor, but right now we just had a middle section of the e-ring of the Pentagon collapse from the amount of fire and destruction from this, so obviously there was a great deal of damage here! It just collapsed we don’t know who was inside or how many people were inside!”

Mike Buchanan deliberately waits until the moment the dust is settling after the building collapses before going to the live feed! Statter is like, "Oops! Just missed it! Sorry!" Having "missed" the live moment, News9 never played the tape of the collapse, although it should have been an award-winning set piece, played over and over again, until seered in our memories. This is further proof the feed didn't belong to News9.

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The over-emotionalism of the News9 team, especially that of co-anchor Mike Buchanan served to promote fear and anxiety rather than constructively allaying it.

At 10:24am Mike Buchanan says, “Hold on one second, the State Department has been evacuated after a possible explosion or a fire, a senior governmental official speaking under a condition of anonymity said, the incident appears connected with the two plane attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, according to this source, quoting now, “something happened at the state department, we don’t know what yet, we hear it might have been a plane.” This...Ah...anybody! Frank or Rick or Lauren, can anybody see anything over at the State Department?” (long pause)

(Doesn't this sound completely made-up? The "something happened" is laughable.)

At 10:25am Mike Buchanan says, “Hold on...Hey Dave? (Yes.) We just got a bulletin from the Associated Press “A car bomb explodes outside of the State Department.” Being attributed to senior law enforcement officials, again, a car bomb.”

The Associated Press did issue this bogus report of a car bomb going off at the Sate Department--it was announced on several other stations too. Like the false reports of incoming planes, this report has no plausible explanation for how the mistake was made. I wonder if it was Dave Winslow again?

Dave Winslow

Andrea: "Let’s go to Frank Herzog who is outside of the State Department, Frank, what have you seen?” (long pause)

Mike: “Alright we’ll hold on for Frank.”

Andrea: Frank had been down at the area at the Washington monument….

Mike: (acting very agitated. This is Mike's big moment.) “Let me tell you if you’re just waking up, this is not a dream. This is not some B movie, you’re watching.”

Andrea: “And this is not some Tom Clancy scenario, this is the real thing.”

Mike: (Channeling Howard Beale, from the movie Network. ) “This morning about 8:45 a plane crashed into the World Trade Center in New York--18 minutes later, another plane, apparently a hijacked jet, out of Boston bound for LA, crashed into the World...you see the picture right there...that’s the second explosion, when this American Airlines jet, apparently hijacked, plowed into the World Trade Center, then about an hour ago, there was an explosion at the Pentagon, a plane plowed into the Pentagon at the heliport.”

Andrea: Look at this... (simultaneously, we see for the first time the terrifying close-up video of a tower collapsing in New York playing on screen...)

Mike: "Oh!"

Andrea: "One of the towers, we had reported, that one of the towers had collapsed, here is proof!"

Mike: (angry) "Frank Herzog, where are ya!?"

Frank: "I’m still at the Washington Monument, I’m looking at the State Department."

Mike: "Yes?"

Andrea: "What do you see?"

Frank: "Nothing has happened there. It looks all quiet."

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Buchanan goes on air with an unchecked AP report that a car bomb has exploded outside the State Department, without first checking with his reporter stationed nearby who could have verified or denied the report before it aired. Instead, Buchanan blurts it out to his reporter across the river at the Pentagon! "Hey Dave," he says! Andrea Roane, has the presence to switch back to Frank Herzog at the State Department, but he has gone AWOL, so viewers are left dangling, believing the news that local car bombs are exploding--just as the first shocking video taken from the base of a tower as it is collapsing is aired on TV.

Do you really think this is mere coincidence? It is the psychological epitome of planned synthetic terror--a beautifully designed moment, superbly executed by consummately trained professionals working together both inside and outside the government in support of some unidentified master. When some psychic relief finally comes our way, with Frank Herzog's timid and mopey denial of the report of a blast at the State Department, the reassurance can't begin to stop the surge of adrenaline rushing through the viewer's manipulated bodies.

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Everyone connected with this CBS USA9 effort is damned for being key co-conspirators before the fact--coldly trained psy-op killers--part and parcel of our government's premeditated murder of nearly 3000 American citizens as a rational for the wrongful invasion and illegal exploitation and murder of over one million other innocents across the globe. As a terrorized citizen of the United States of America, I get down on my knees and beg the world's forgiveness for what it is my country has wrought.

In contrast, in my humble opinion, FOX News reporter Audrey Barnes, is the shape of the new American hero: genuine, and in control as emotions run hot. I felt proud of much of the FOX News, Washington, D.C. bureau on 9-11--the exceptions are glaring--a reminder perhaps, not to judge the book by its cover.

A full transcript of CBS Sept. 11, 2001 9:54 am - 10:36 am