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MSNBC and the missing videotape: Jack Cashill examines network's role in TWA Flight 800 cover-up
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Tuesday, February 15, 2005 | Jack Cashill

Posted on 02/15/2005 1:19:18 AM PST by JohnHuang2

On April 20, 2001, a Peruvian military jet pilot confused a small plane carrying missionaries for one carrying drug runners and shot it down. In the last two weeks, MSNBC has been leading the charge to bring this case to closure.

Its on-air personnel – Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough in particular – have been asking hard questions about why no charges have been brought against CIA agents who may have lied about the nature of this crash. The MSNBC website invites citizens to communicate their concerns about this presumed cover-up through MSNBC to the U.S. government.

This would be all well and good were it not for the likely role that MSNBC played in the cover-up of TWA Flight 800. On July 18, 1996, about 12 hours after TWA Flight 800 exploded off the coast of Long Island, a military officer – off the record – told a very tired Fox News senior reporter that "a major screw-up" had occurred and that the "White House" had ordered the military to "stand down" for 48 hours until policy decisions were reached.

This did not surprise the Fox journalist. For hours the previous evening, Fox News had reportedly been involved in a bidding war for an amateur video tape of the 747 being destroyed by what appeared to be missile fire. When the electronic bidding war reached $50,000, Fox was eliminated from the process.

The high bidder seems to have been NBC and/or its new sister network, MSNBC. This makes market sense in that MSNBC had been launched just two days prior, and the publicity would have been well worth the cost. Still, I say "seems" because my sources here will not speak on record, nor will MSNBC follow up on queries. Here is exactly what I know, no more, no less.

In the summer of 2001, my partner James Sanders, and I were negotiating with Broadcast Network News (BNN) – the world's largest independent news producer – to distribute our documentary on the subject of TWA Flight 800, "Silenced." These were serious negotiations. The person with whom we were communicating was BNN's chief executive officer, Steve Rosenbaum.

One day that summer, Rosenbaum called me in a state of high excitement. "Jack," he said, "you will not believe the conversation I just had." Although Rosenbaum thought our video had market potential, he was not at all convinced of our thesis, namely that missiles had been fired at TWA Flight 800. The conversation in question eliminated just about all doubt.

As Rosenbaum explained, he had been interviewing a candidate for a position as BNN's technical director at a rooftop cafe when an airplane passed overhead. The conversation moved naturally to airplanes and then, with Rosenbaum taking the lead, to TWA Flight 800.

"I've seen the video," said the candidate, who had until recently been working at MSNBC.

"You mean 'Silenced'?" said Rosenbaum, a little surprised.

"No," the candidate answered, "the video, the actual video of the plane being shot down."

As the candidate told Rosenbaum, late on the night of the crash, editors at MSNBC had the tape on their monitors when "three men in suits" came to their editing suites, removed the tape, and threatened the editors with serious consequences if they ever revealed its contents.

The threats worked all too well. Despite my repeated requests, Rosenbaum could not get the technical director, whom he hired, to go on record. Over the years, I have asked various producers at MSNBC to follow up, but if they did, they kept what they learned to themselves.

Earlier in his research, Sanders had been approached by a technician at another station who had monitoring the competition's feeds from Long Island and made a bootleg copy of that same amateur video. What is more, he withheld a copy from the FBI when its agents came to confiscate whatever relevant tapes his station might have. Despite a series of phone calls, Sanders could not persuade the technician to hand over the tape. His fear was palpable enough, however, to convince Sanders that he was telling the truth.

Although I have not seen the video myself, I have heard from scores, if not hundreds, of credible people who swear they saw it on television in the first hours after the crash. That at least one among the hundreds of eyewitnesses would have had a video camera handy during a beautiful summer sunset evening makes perfect sense. The FBI admits to having confiscated two still photos and predictably writes off the images to dirt or scratches on the lens. A video would have been much harder to dismiss.

Nelson DeMille has obviously heard these stories as well – and perhaps more. In his best-selling novel, "Night Falls," a confiscated amateur video drives the plot. Although he spices the video up a bit in the retelling, DeMille is not just spinning fantasy. His insider details have the ring of authenticity about them.

What makes the MSNBC involvement all the more ironic is that the CIA was responsible for producing the 15-minute animated video used successfully to discredit the eyewitness testimony. If the MSNBC producers are interested in exposing not just a routine CIA cover-up, but the most consequential cover-up in American history, my fellow investigators and I will be happy to lead them right to the source.

There is admittedly much we still do not know about the explosion of TWA Flight 800, but we know enough about the CIA cover-up to bring indictments. Before turning on the CIA, however, MSNBC might want to look inward. The CIA at least had the excuse of national security. If MSNBC had reasons for betraying its journalistic ethics, I am not sure I know what they are. Indeed, had its new executives stuck to their guns that night, they might very well have prevented Sept. 11.


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 800; amateur; chris; cia; clinton; conspiracy; coverup; fbi; flight; jackcashill; matthews; media; missing; msnbc; tinfoil; twa; twaflight800; video; videotape
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To: kcvl
The fuel-tank theory of the crash was also disavowed by James Kallstrom, who headed the FBI investigation.

Kallstrom who headed up the FBI investigation of TWA Flt. 800 initially approached it as an act of sabotage. He was summoned to Washington for consultation and subsequently began pushing the exploding center fuel tank theory. To my knowledge that is still the theory he stands by today.

41 posted on 02/15/2005 7:33:06 AM PST by BluH2o
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To: bmwcyle
why did the Bush administration not reveal what it found out on taking office?

Bush hasn't even admitted that the Clintonistas took all the W's off the computer keyboards. And you want him to spill the beans on TWA 800? Fat chance!

ML/NJ

42 posted on 02/15/2005 7:36:52 AM PST by ml/nj
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To: Swordmaker
I was looking at TWA-800 photos...

Why do the crash re-assemble photos have numerous windows in the upper deck and photos taken a month before only have three windows in the upper deck?

43 posted on 02/15/2005 7:51:41 AM PST by Battle Hymn of the Republic
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To: jan in Colorado

Ping for later.


44 posted on 02/15/2005 7:58:52 AM PST by jan in Colorado (Islam is the cult of death! It must be destroyed!)
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To: JohnHuang2
I do not believe the US Government could keep a missile attack a secret. The government leaks like a sieve. POTOS can’t ever get a hummer in his own office without the world knowing about it.

I don’t buy the missile theory at it would be too hard to cover up. However a shoe bomber over the center fuel tank would explain a lot of things and only a small number of people would has access to the information.

45 posted on 02/15/2005 9:09:31 AM PST by usurper (Correct spelling is overrated)
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To: ChefKeith

ping


46 posted on 02/15/2005 9:38:03 AM PST by WestCoastGal (Daytona 500 ~ 5 days!___ Gatorade Duel Races this Thursday 1pm ET)
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To: JohnHuang2
It was a missle.

See:

Downside Legacy Research Project: TWA 800 Hypothesis

47 posted on 02/15/2005 11:10:01 AM PST by John O (God Save America (Please))
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To: Brian Allen

If so, wouldn't the explosion have caused the outer shell of the plane to rip OUTWARDS?

If so, how did a carryon suicide bomber get hundreds of people to see a missile's fiery trail?

If so, how did a carryon suicide bomber get a helicopter pilot and jet airliner pilots to see a missile track and hit the TWA800?


48 posted on 02/15/2005 11:30:33 AM PST by UCANSEE2 (sH)
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To: Sharkfish

So, are you saying it was an accident caused by the CWT explosion?


49 posted on 02/15/2005 11:32:07 AM PST by UCANSEE2 (sH)
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To: JohnHuang2

It was a test of the patriot II. The plane was off course a little, and was a brighter target than the drone which was the intended target. Coverup was necessary to avoid bringing down one of the largest defense contactors. Actually, I'm glad for the coverup and I'm glad no one will take my post seriously.


50 posted on 02/15/2005 11:40:22 AM PST by StolarStorm
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To: usurper
You're right, it would be impossible to keep it all that secret. Just like most "secrets", they exist out in the open, but aren't believed. There are thousands and thousands that know the truth, but without actual factual and concrete proof, it means nothing.

You can't keep something like this secret but you can cloud it.
51 posted on 02/15/2005 11:44:16 AM PST by StolarStorm
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To: ml/nj

Of you Google the quote that should help. Here's a direct link to where I got the quote from:

http://www.subversiveelement.com/ConspiracyTWA.html


52 posted on 02/15/2005 12:35:49 PM PST by to_zion
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To: UCANSEE2
I don't know what "CWT" is. I'm saying there is insufficient proof at this time to reject the official version of it as a center fuel tank explosion caused by igniting fuel vapors. Everything else is hearsay, but because there is a whole lot of it, further investigation is warranted.
53 posted on 02/15/2005 12:38:59 PM PST by Sharkfish
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To: Sharkfish

Allow me.

CWT is the acronym for CENTER WING TANK.

The official finding was that the CWT exploded due to ignition of the leftover fuel by some point source. (so this isn't exactly a lie, if you consider the point source may have been ROCKET).

As far as reason to reject the official findings, here is one. If this had been true, the FAA would have grounded every boeing aircraft of that make/model. They didn't.


54 posted on 02/15/2005 12:44:37 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (sH)
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To: to_zion
Here's a direct link to where I got the quote from ...

And the quote is unsourced there, unlike most of the the other quotes at that page.

I still think it's bogus.

ML/NJ

55 posted on 02/15/2005 12:45:58 PM PST by ml/nj
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To: JohnHuang2
The lives of James Sanders (retired policeman from California) and wife Liz (former TWA trainer, who obtained fabric of seat from TWA 800 sent to outside lab for testing - proof positive that substance was connected to explosives)have been ruined for all practical purposes.

Pleas for Presidential Pardons should be demanded from the Bush Administration, so that they can at least earn more than substandard incomes to support themselves. Sanders, received disability retirement from former department but Liz was and is very employable but unable to seek meaningful work of any substantial kind due to her felony conviction.

Clinton/FBI and Justice Departments hounded these wonderful people, who were merely seeking truth in tragedy, which involved not only regular travelers but TWA staff as well as many other employees and families of TWA. Clinton Administration needed to shut this investigation down quickly or no second term.

56 posted on 02/15/2005 12:51:02 PM PST by zerosix
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To: GarySpFc
I think I read that transcript on the net of that meeting, and shortly after that I could not find it again. It had testimony of the pilot that had just landed the plane at JFK right before the tragic takeoff. It was very convincing.
57 posted on 02/15/2005 12:51:30 PM PST by cmsgop ( Bridezilla Looks Hungry)
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To: usurper
I do not believe the US Government could keep a missile attack a secret. The government leaks like a sieve. POTOS can’t ever get a hummer in his own office without the world knowing about it. I don’t buy the missile theory at it would be too hard to cover up. However a shoe bomber over the center fuel tank would explain a lot of things and only a small number of people would has access to the information.

Your post is a perfect example of why this investigation has not moved forward --- the opposition to the gov't theory cannot coalesce around an opposing theory.

I live in Williamsport, PA and have met many parents of the Montoursville French Club lost on TWA 800. These parents still have a gnawing in their guts about what happened to their sons and daughters.

58 posted on 02/15/2005 1:02:18 PM PST by Erik Latranyi (9-11 is your Peace Dividend)
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To: UCANSEE2
Apr 29, 2001 AirWise News

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered airlines to shut off fuel pumps on Boeing 737s when there is a low level of fuel remaining in the center tank.

Fuel tanks have been blamed for an explosion last month aboard a Thai Airways Boeing 737 and for the 1996 destruction of TWA Flight 800.

The FAA's action on Friday comes four years after the National Transportation Safety Board made a similar recommendation following the TWA Flight 800 crash.

----SNIP---

see rest of story here

And the foregoing is precisely my point. For every question raised, there has been an "official" answer. Until you can PROVE missile or bomb all this is all just suspicion.

59 posted on 02/15/2005 1:12:17 PM PST by Sharkfish
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To: JohnHuang2
Much thanks for the ping on this.
~ se
60 posted on 02/15/2005 1:19:48 PM PST by softengine (Once you acquiesce, its all downhill from there.)
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