For Coast Guard and CNN, an Exercise in Embarrassment
It has been eight years since the terrorists struck, but the fog of war has yet to dissipate.
Sept. 11, 2009, 10:04 a.m.: President Obama was returning to the White House from a 9/11 memorial event at the Pentagon.
CNN was broadcasting from the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pa., when anchor Heidi Collins broke in with alarming news — the Coast Guard had “engaged” a boat on the Potomac near the Pentagon.
“We have seen at least one boat come up the Potomac and challenge the Coast Guard,” reported CNN’s Jeanne Meserve, as the network showed a gloomy, long-range image of the river with the caption “Coast Guard fires on boat on Potomac River.” The Coast Guard, Meserve said, “sent a transmission saying they expended 10 rounds.”
Gunfire on the Potomac! Near the Pentagon! On 9/11! Federal Aviation Administration officials, watching the scene on CNN, ordered a ground stop at nearby Reagan National Airport. About 10 police cars sped to the scene, between the Memorial and 14th Street bridges.
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