Fact check: CNN 9/11 broadcast edited to falsely claim no plane …

The claim: CNN broadcast reported no evidence that plane crashed into Pentagon on 9/11

Some social media users are sharing a video that purportedly shows a CNN broadcast covering the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the Pentagon.

The attack was perpetrated by hijackers who flew a passenger plane – American Airlines Flight 77 – into the Pentagon, killing 184 people. The World Trade Center was attacked on the same day. 

The social media video shows then-CNN anchor Judy Woodruff speaking with then-CNN reporter, Jamie McIntyre, who was at the Pentagon.

During the exchange, McIntyre states that there is no evidence of a plane having crashed “anywhere near” the Pentagon. 

“This footage aired once after 9/11 and never again on TV,” reads a Sept. 11 Instagram post that featured the video. “Once you watch it, you will know why. ‘No evidence that a plane crashed anywhere near the Pentagon.’”

The Instagram video received more than 100,000 views in three days and echoes old conspiracy theories that claim the Pentagon was damaged by something other than a plane on 9/11.

However, the broadcast has been edited to show McIntyre’s comment out of the context. In the original broadcast, McIntyre clearly confirms the presence of plane wreckage at the Pentagon. 

USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user who shared the video for comment.

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Video altered, original broadcast confirms plane at Pentagon

In the social media video, McIntyre says: “A short while ago I walked right up next to the building as firefighters were still trying to put out the blaze that — the fire, by the way, is still burning in some parts of the Pentagon — and I took a look at the huge, gaping hole that’s in the side.”

Next, he is quoted as saying: “But from my close-up inspection, there’s no evidence of a plane having crashed anywhere near the Pentagon. The only site is the actual site of the building that’s crashed in. And as I said, the only pieces left that you can see are small enough that you could pick up in your hand. There are no large tail sections, wing sections, a fuselage, nothing like that anywhere around.” 

McIntyre did make both of these statements in the original broadcast, but they were not made consecutively as they are presented in the social media video. Instead, footage from between the two statements was cut, leading to the appearance that McIntyre was denying the existence of plane wreckage at the Pentagon.

In the authentic broadcast, as confirmed by CNN spokesperson Sydney Baldwin, Woodruff asked McIntyre about an early report that Flight 77 had not actually crashed directly into the Pentagon, but had instead damaged the building when it crashed nearby. 

McIntyre was responding to that question when he stated that “there’s no evidence of a plane having crashed anywhere near the Pentagon.” 

In the authentic broadcast McIntyre also explicitly states that he observed pieces of the plane on site.

“I could see parts of the airplane that crashed into the building — very small pieces of the plane — on the heliport outside the building,” he said. “The biggest piece I saw was about three feet long. It was silver and had been painted green and red, but I could not see any identifying markings on the plane. I also saw a large piece of shattered glass that appeared to be a cockpit windshield or other window from the plane.”

In 2010, McIntyre wrote in a Military.com blog post that his statements in the CNN broadcast had been misconstrued to support the false claim that a plane had not crashed into the Pentagon. 

He confirmed that he had seen plane debris at the scene and published pictures of some of the wreckage he found.  

Fact check: Transcript of famous call from Flight 93 on 9/11 does not exist

Our rating: Altered

Based on our research, we rate ALTERED a video purportedly showing a CNN broadcast that reported there was no evidence that a plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. Portions of the original CNN broadcast were edited out, including footage of McIntyre explicitly reporting seeing parts of the plane. The video was also edited to remove a question from the CNN anchor that provided clarifying context for McIntyre’s statements.

Our fact-check sources:

• Sydney Baldwin, Sept. 15, Email exchange with USA TODAY
• AP, Sept. 12, 9/11 news footage on Pentagon attack deceptively edited
• YouTube, Sept. 4, 2016, (1) CNN 9-11-2001 Live Coverage 8:46.32 A.M E.T – 5.00 P.M E.T
• USA TODAY, Sept. 11, ‘When we stand together:’ Joe Biden, other leaders pay tribute on 21st anniversary of 9/11
• Department of Defense, Sept. 12, Hicks Urges 9/11 Survivors Not to Let Their Stories Be Lost to Time
• PolitiFact, Sept. 14, Yes, a plane crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001
• CNN, accessed Sept. 14, Jamie McIntyre
• PBS, accessed Sept. 14, Judy Woodruff
• Line of Duty, Sept. 11, 2010, The immortal 9/11 conspiracy

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