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Context of '(Between 8:46-8:55 a.m.)' |
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This page shows all events that either reference, or are referenced by, the event '(Between 8:46-8:55 a.m.)'. |
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President Bush is traveling through Sarasota, Florida in a motorcade when the first WTC crash occurs (see(8:35 a.m.) and (Between 8:46-8:55 a.m.)).
According to the 9/11 Commission, at this time, “no one in the White
House or traveling with the President knew that [Flight 11] had been
hijacked. Immediately afterward, duty officers at the White House and
Pentagon began notifying senior officials what had happened.” However,
supposedly no one notifies Bush about the crash until his motorcade
reaches its destination, even though there's a highly secure phone in
his vehicle, and others in the motorcade are being notified. Not even
the Jane Garvey, the head of the FAA, nor her deputy have been told of
a confirmed hijacking before they learn about the crash from the
television. [Independent Commission Report 6/17/04]
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In this map, the yellow star is roughly where Bush's motorcade is when
Flight 11 crashes at 8:46, and the orange star is where he is when told
about the crash a few minutes later.
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When
Flight 11 hits the WTC at 8:46, Bush's motorcade is crossing the John
Ringling Causeway on the way to Booker Elementary from the Colony Beach
& Tennis Resort on Longboat Key. [Washington Times, 10/8/02]
Sarasota Magazine claims that Bush is on Highway 301, just north of
Main Street when he is told that a plane had crashed in New York City. [Sarasota Magazine, 9/19/01]
Around the same time, news photographer Eric Draper is riding in
another car in the motorcade with Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, and
overhears Fleischer say on a cell phone, “Oh, my God, I don't believe
it. A plane just hit the World Trade Center.” Fleischer is told he will
be needed on arrival to discuss reports of the crash. [Christian Science Monitor, 9/17/01, Albuquerque Tribune, 9/10/02] Fleischer is told this “just minutes”after the first news reports. [MSNBC, 10/29/02] Congressman Dan Miller also says he is told about the crash just before meeting Bush at Booker at 8:55. [Sarasota Magazine, 9/19/01] Some reporters waiting for him to arrive also learn of the crash just minutes after it happens. [CBS, 9/11/02 (B)] It
would make sense that Bush is told about the crash immediately and at
the same time that others hear about it. Yet Bush and others claim he
isn't told until he arrives at the school.
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White House Situation Room Director Deborah Loewer.
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Captain
Deborah Loewer, director of the White House Situation Room, is
traveling in Bush's motorcade toward a Saratoga elementary school. She
receives a message from her deputy in the White House Situation Room
about the first WTC crash. As soon as the motorcade reaches the school,
she runs from her car to Bush's car, and passes the message on to Bush.
[Catholic Telegraph, 12/7/01, AP, 11/26/01] However, it appears Bush already knows (see (Between 8:46-8:55 a.m.)). Note that Bush maintains it is Karl Rove who tells him a few minutes later.
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Karl Rove [Reuters], Andrew Card [AP], and Dan Bartlett.
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Just
after the WTC crash, the beepers of politicians' aides are going off
with news of the first WTC crash as Bush arrives and enters Booker
Elementary School. According to photographer Eric Draper, standing
nearby, Bush advisor Karl Rove rushes up, takes Bush aside in a
corridor, and tells him about the calamity. Rove says the cause of the
crash was unclear. Bush replies, “What a horrible accident!” Bush also
suggests the pilot may have had a heart attack. [Daily Mail, 9/8/02]
Dan Bartlett, White House Communications Director, also says he is
there when Bush is told: “[Bush] being a former pilot, had kind of the
same reaction, going, was it bad weather? And I said no, apparently
not.” [ABC News, 9/11/02] One account explicitly says that Rove tells Bush the WTC has been hit by a large commercial airliner. [Telegraph, 12/16/01] However, Bush later remembers Rove saying it appeared to be an accident involving a small, twin-engine plane. [Washington Post, 1/27/02]
In a later recollection, Bush recalls that it is chief of staff Andrew
Card who first warns him and says, “
‘Here's what you're going to be doing; you're going to meet so-and-so,
such-and-such.’And Andy Card says, ‘By the way, an aircraft flew into
the World Trade Center.’
” [Washington Times, 10/7/02]
Says a reporter who was standing nearby, “From the demeanor of the
President, grinning at the children, it appeared that the enormity of
what he had been told was taking a while to sink in.” [Daily Mail, 9/8/02] [“Shortly before 9:00,”
Daily Mail, 9/8/02, “just before 9:00,”
Telegraph, 12/16/01] In fact, Bush has already been told about the crash twice before this (see (Between 8:46-8:55 a.m.) and (Before 8:55 a.m.)).
He should also be aware that NORAD has known since 8:40, if not before,
that Flight 11 has been hijacked, and since 8:43 that Flight 175 has
been hijacked. The New York Times points out that flight controllers
learn Flight 77 has been hijacked “within a few minutes” of 8:48. [New York Times, 9/15/01 (C)] Is Bush and his aides putting on a charade to pretend he doesn't know there is a national emergency? If so, why?
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