Dan Rather's first three televised descriptions of the first version of the Zapruder film, 25/11/63

[Paul Rigby]

A) First description of the Zapruder film:

From 7 mins 12 secs until 13 mins 11 secs within the following segment of CBS' coverage of the funeral, 25 November 1963, between 1600hrs and 1631hrs EST:

[video=youtube_share;BGl0ddD7kF4]http://youtu.be/BGl0ddD7kF4[/video]

1. We have just returned from seeing a complete motion picture of the moments preceding, and the moments of, President Kennedy's assassination and the shooting of Texas Governor John Connally.
2. Here is what the motion picture shows.
3. The automobile, the black Lincoln convertible, with the top down - carrying, in the front seat, two secret service agents; in the middle, or jump seat, the Governor and Mrs. Connally; and, in the rear seat, President and Mrs. Kennedy made a turn off of Houston Street, on to Elm Street.
4. This was a left turn and was made right in front of the building from which the assassin's bullet was fired.
5. After making the turn, and going about 35 yards from the corner of the building six stories up in which the assassin had a window open and keep in mind here that President Kennedy and Governor Connally are seated on, both on the same side of the car, on the side facing the building: Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. Connally are on the side of the car away from the assassin.
6. About 35 yards from the base of the building, President Kennedy, in the film, put his hand up to the right side of his face, the side facing the assassin.
7. He seemingly wanted to brush back his hair, or perhaps rub his eyebrow.
8. Mrs. Kennedy at this moment was looking away, or looking straight ahead.
9. She was not looking at her husband.
10. At that moment, when the President had his right hand up to this side of his face (gestures), he lurched just a bit forward.
11. It was obvious that the shot had hit him.
12. Mrs. Kennedy was not looking at him, nor did she appear to know at that instant that her husband had been hit.
13. Governor Connally, in the seat immediately in front of the President, apparently either heard the shot or sensed that something was wrong because, Governor Connally, with his coat open, his button was undone, turned in this manner (turns back to his right with right arm extended), his hand outstretched, back toward the President; and the Governor had a look on his face that would indicate he perhaps was saying "What's wrong?" or "What happened?" or "Can I help?" or something.
14. But as Governor Connally was turned this way, his white shirt front exposed well to the view of the assassin, the Governor was obviously hit by a bullet, and he fell over to the side.
15. Governor Connally's wife, immediately, seemingly instantaneously, placed herself over her husband in a protective position, it appeared; and as Governor Connally fell back, President Kennedy was still leaned over.
16. At that moment another bullet obviously hit the head of the President.
17. The President's head went forward, violently, in this manner (gestures).
18. Mrs. Kennedy, at that instant, seemed to be looking right-square at her husband.
19. She stood up.
20. The President slumped over to the side and, I believe, brushed against Mrs. Kennedy's dress.
21. Mrs. Kennedy immediately turned and flung herself on the trunk of the automobile, face-down on the trunk, almost on all-fours.
22. The First Lady appeared to be either frantically trying to get the secret service man who was riding on the bumper of the car - the single secret service man riding on that bumper - to come into the car or to tell him what had happened; or perhaps, from the picture, it appeared she might have been trying to get out of the car some way.
23. The car never stopped.
24. The secret service man in the front seat had a telephone in his hand.
25. The car…its acceleration increased rapidly and it disappeared under an underpass.
26. Three shots - the first one hitting President Kennedy, the second one hitting Governor Connally, the third one hitting the President consume, possibly, five seconds.
27. Not much more than that, if any.
28. That is the scene shown in about twenty seconds of film that the FBI has in its possession.
29. The film was taken by an amateur photographer who was in a very advantageous position, and who had his camera trained on the President's car from the time it made the turn in front of the assassin until it disappeared on its way to the hospital.
30. This is Dan Rather in Dallas.

B) Second description of the Zapruder film:

From 21 mins 51 secs until 27 mins 07 secs within the following segment of CBS' coverage of the funeral, 25 November 1963, between 1600hrs and 1631hrs EST:

[video=youtube_share;BGl0ddD7kF4]http://youtu.be/BGl0ddD7kF4[/video]

1. We have just returned from seeing a complete motion picture of the moments immediately preceding, and the moments of, President Kennedy's assassination.
2. The motion picture shows the limousine carrying, in the front seat, two secret service men; in the middle, or jump seat, Governor and Mrs. Connally; and, in the rear seat, President and Mrs. Kennedy; a single secret service man standing on the back bumper; the top of the black Lincoln convertible down.
3. The car made a turn, a left turn, off of Houston Street, on to Elm Street, on the fringe of Dallas' down-town area; that turn made directly below the sixth floor window from which the assassin's bullets came.
4. After the left turn was completed, the automobile, with only one car in front of it - a secret service car immediately in front the President's car proceeded about 35 yards from the base of the building in which the assassin was.
5. President Kennedy and Governor Connally were seated on the same side of the open car, the side facing the building: Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. Connally on the side of the car opposite the assassin.
6. President Kennedy is clearly shown to put his right hand up to the side of his face as if to either brush back his hair, or perhaps rub his eyebrow.
7. Mrs. Kennedy at that instant is looking away, and is not looking at the President.
8. At almost that instant, when the President has his hand up to this side of his face (gestures), he lurches forward something in this manner (gestures): The first shot had hit him.
9. Mrs. Kennedy appeared not to notice.
10. Governor Connally, in the seat right in front of the President by the way, the Governor had his suit coat open, his suit was not buttoned perhaps either heard the shot or somehow he knew something was wrong because the picture shows just after that first shot hit the President, the Governor turned in something this manner, with his right arm stretched back toward the President, as if to say "What's wrong?" or "What happened?" or say something.
11. It exposed the entire white front shirt of the Governor to the full view of the assassin's window; and as the Governor was in this position, and President Kennedy behind him was slumped slightly over, a shot clearly hit the front of Governor Connally; and the Governor fell back over towards his wife.
12. Mrs. Connally immediately put herself over her husband in a protective position, and as she did so, in the back seat, this time with Mrs. Kennedy's eyes apparently right on her husband, the second shot the third shot in all the second shot hit the President's head.
13. His head went forward, in a violent motion, pushing it down like this (leans forward, lowering his head as he does so).
14. Mrs. Kennedy was on her feet immediately.
15. The President fell over in this direction (leans to his left).
16. It appeared his head probably brushed or hit against Mrs. Kennedy's legs.
17. The First Lady almost immediately tried to crawl on did crawl on - to the trunk of the car, face-down, her whole body almost was on that trunk, in something of an all-fours position.
18. She appeared to be either trying to desperately get the attention of the secret service man on the back bumper, or perhaps she was stretching out toward him to grab him to try get him in.
19. Perhaps even trying to get herself out of the car.
20. The car was moving all the time, the car never stopped.
21. The secret service man on the back bumper leaned way over and put his hands on Mrs. Kennedy's shoulders she appeared to be in some danger of falling or rolling off that trunk lid.
22. He pushed her back into the back seat of the car.
23. In the front seat, a secret service man with a phone in his hand.
24. The car speeded up and sped away. It never stopped, the car never paused.
25. That's what the film of the assassination showed.
26. The film was taken by an amateur photographer who had placed himself in an advantageous position: eight millimeter color film.
27. This is Dan Rather in Dallas.

C) Third description of the Zapruder film

Broadcast at 2026hrs, EST, duration approximately 3 mins 26 secs.*

[video=youtube_share;kiSoxFHyjGY]http://youtu.be/kiSoxFHyjGY[/video]

Transcript of the third description on line: http://www.etcfilmunit.com/Cronkite.html

I-Accuse.com

1. The films we saw were taken by an amateur photographer, who had a particularly good vantage point, just past the building from which the fatal shot was fired.
2. The films show President Kennedy's open, black limousine, making a left turn, off Houston Street on to Elm Street on the fringe of downtown Dallas, a left turn made just below the window in which the assassin was waiting.
3. About 35 yards past the very base of the building, just below the window, President Kennedy could be seen to, to put his right hand up to the side of his head to, either brush back his hair or perhaps rub his eyebrow.
4. President Kennedy was sitting on the same side of the car as the building from which the shot came.
5. Mrs. Kennedy was by his side.
6. In the jump seat in front of him, Mrs. Connally, and Governor Connally, Governor Connally on the same side of the car as the president.
7. And in the front seat, two Secret Service men.
8. Just as the president put that right hand up to the side of his head, he, you could see him, lurch forward.
9. The first shot had hit him.
10. Mrs. Kennedy was looking in another direction, and apparently didn't see, or sense that first shot, or didn't hear it.
11. But Governor Connally, in the seat in front, appeared to have heard it, or at least sensed that something was wrong.
12. The Governor's coat was open.
13. He, he reached back in this fashion, exposing his white shirt front to the assassin's window, reached back as if to, to offer aid or ask the president something.
14. At that moment, a shot clearly hit the governor, in the front, and he fell back in his seat.
15. Mrs. Connally immediately threw herself over him in a protective position.
16. In the next instant, with this time Mrs. Kennedy apparently looking on, a second shot, the third total shot, hit the president's head.
17. He, his head can be seen to move violently forward.
18. And, Mrs. Kennedy stood up immediately; the president leaned over her way.
19. It appeared that he might have brushed her legs.
20. Mrs. Kennedy then, literall,y went on the top of the trunk, of the Lincoln car, put practically her whole body on the trunk.
21. It, it appeared she might have been on all fours, there, reaching out for the Secret Service man, the lone Secret Service man who was riding on the bumper of the car, the back bumper on Mrs. Kennedy's side.
22. The Secret Service man leaned forward and put his hands on Mrs. Kennedy's shoulder to push her back into the car.
23. She was in some danger, it appeared, of rolling off or falling off.
24. And when we described this before, there was some question about what we meant by Mrs. Kennedy being on the trunk of the car.
25. Only she knows, but it appeared that she was trying desperately to, to get the Secret Service man's attention or perhaps to help pull him into the car.
26. The car never stopped, it never paused.
27. In the front seat, a Secret Service man was, was on the telephone.
28. The car picked up speed, and disappeared beneath an underpass.
29. This is Dan Rather in Dallas.

*Ken Rheberg: "Dan Rather described the Zapruder film THREE separate times on CBS-TV Monday 11/25/63. The final report was televised at approximately 8:26PM EST."

Source: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index....6&p=262821
Post #249, 17 November 2012, within the thread: Was Muchmore's film shown on WNEW-TV, New York, on November 26, 1963?

[Bob Prudhomme]

It is interesting to note that Dan Rather makes a point of stating that the limo never stopped or paused.

[Paul Rigby]

It is interesting to note that Dan Rather makes a point of stating that the limo never stopped or paused.

There's any number of fascinating questions raised by the three, Bob, not the least of which is why Rather was directed to have another go so soon after his first. What terrible gaff was he invited to correct with such inordinate haste?

One answer lies here:

A22. The First Lady appeared to be either frantically trying to get the secret service man who was riding on the bumper of the car - the single secret service man riding on that bumper - to come into the car or to tell him what had happened; or perhaps, from the picture, it appeared she might have been trying to get out of the car some way.

An interpretation which of course disappears from version 3.

[Bob Prudhomme]

Paul

After watching these films several times, I have come to the conclusion that film #3 is an edited and altered version of the original. The proof of this can be seen at the 2:55 mark of the third film, where Dan Rather is describing the Secret Service man putting his hands on Jackie's shoulders and pushing her back into the limo. Only, this time, it comes out as "hands on Jackie's shoulder"; "shoulder" instead of "shoulders". Notice, also, the slight lurch in the film and Rather's mouth as the end of the word "shoulder" comes out.

Dan Rather appears to be reading from a script. If not, he has an incredible recall, even if he saw the film more than once.

I can only surmise that someone with half a brain clued in to the obvious predicament that, if the Secret Service man on the rear bumper put both hands on Jackie's shoulders and pushed, the Secret Service man stood a very good chance of pushing himself off the rear bumper; especially considering the limo was supposed to have been accelerating at this point in time.

[Paul Rigby]

C) Third description of the Zapruder film

Broadcast at 2026hrs, EST, duration approximately 3 mins 26 secs.*

[video=youtube_share;kiSoxFHyjGY]http://youtu.be/kiSoxFHyjGY[/video]

Transcript of the third description on line: http://www.etcfilmunit.com/Cronkite.html

I-Accuse.com

1. The films we saw were taken by an amateur photographer, who had a particularly good vantage point, just past the building from which the fatal shot was fired.
2. The films show President Kennedy's open, black limousine, making a left turn, off Houston Street on to Elm Street on the fringe of downtown Dallas, a left turn made just below the window in which the assassin was waiting.
3. About 35 yards past the very base of the building, just below the window, President Kennedy could be seen to, to put his right hand up to the side of his head to, either brush back his hair or perhaps rub his eyebrow.
4. President Kennedy was sitting on the same side of the car as the building from which the shot came.
5. Mrs. Kennedy was by his side.
6. In the jump seat in front of him, Mrs. Connally, and Governor Connally, Governor Connally on the same side of the car as the president.
7. And in the front seat, two Secret Service men.
8. Just as the president put that right hand up to the side of his head, he, you could see him, lurch forward.
9. The first shot had hit him.
10. Mrs. Kennedy was looking in another direction, and apparently didn't see, or sense that first shot, or didn't hear it.
11. But Governor Connally, in the seat in front, appeared to have heard it, or at least sensed that something was wrong.
12. The Governor's coat was open.
13. He, he reached back in this fashion, exposing his white shirt front to the assassin's window, reached back as if to, to offer aid or ask the president something.
14. At that moment, a shot clearly hit the governor, in the front, and he fell back in his seat.
15. Mrs. Connally immediately threw herself over him in a protective position.
16. In the next instant, with this time Mrs. Kennedy apparently looking on, a second shot, the third total shot, hit the president's head.
17. He, his head can be seen to move violently forward.
18. And, Mrs. Kennedy stood up immediately; the president leaned over her way.
19. It appeared that he might have brushed her legs.
20. Mrs. Kennedy then, literall,y went on the top of the trunk, of the Lincoln car, put practically her whole body on the trunk.
21. It, it appeared she might have been on all fours, there, reaching out for the Secret Service man, the lone Secret Service man who was riding on the bumper of the car, the back bumper on Mrs. Kennedy's side.
22. The Secret Service man leaned forward and put his hands on Mrs. Kennedy's shoulder to push her back into the car.
23. She was in some danger, it appeared, of rolling off or falling off.
24. And when we described this before, there was some question about what we meant by Mrs. Kennedy being on the trunk of the car.
25. Only she knows, but it appeared that she was trying desperately to, to get the Secret Service man's attention or perhaps to help pull him into the car.
26. The car never stopped, it never paused.
27. In the front seat, a Secret Service man was, was on the telephone.
28. The car picked up speed, and disappeared beneath an underpass.
29. This is Dan Rather in Dallas.

*Ken Rheberg: "Dan Rather described the Zapruder film THREE separate times on CBS-TV Monday 11/25/63. The final report was televised at approximately 8:26PM EST."

Source: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index....6&p=262821
Post #249, 17 November 2012, within the thread: Was Muchmore's film shown on WNEW-TV, New York, on November 26, 1963?

It should be noted that Gary Mack offered an earlier time for the broadcast of this third description, and I have, at present, no means of knowing which is correct.

Gary Mack, "The $8,000,000 Man," The Continuing Enquiry, 22 August 1980, (Vol 5, No 1), 3: 6:30 PM, EST
http://digitalcollec...o-jones/id/1181

It is perfectly possible that there was at least one more Rather description of the first version of the Zapruder film, and a very interesting one at that.

According to an intriguing passage from a 2009 Black Op Radio appearance of John Barbour*, producer of the Garrison Tapes documentary, there was this broadcast to be added to the list:

Oh, I have a lot of footage. I have some stunning footage. I got, I got a piece of footage that I would have loved to have put in there, and I could never get it in there. And it's footage of Dan Rather.

You know Dan Rather was just a local reporter in Dallas at the time. Now how is it that Dan Rather, a local reporter, gets to go on CBS News to describe the Zapruder film - the Zapruder film which is in the hands of the Federal Government - and then goes on the air to lie about it? And the lie I'm telling you about is this.

I have him in a kinescope on television. He's on CBS evening news and you see the motor vehicle moving and he's describing everything that Jackie Kennedy's wearing, the little pea-pod hat, the little pink outfit, the little roses on her lapel, describing what Kennedy's wearing, describing everything that Connally has, got a little hat in his hand, describing everything, and he's absolutely right in what he's describing.

Then it comes to the time of the fatal shot. And he stops the Zapruder film and he looks into the camera. And he says: "This is too gruesome for you to see so I just have to describe what is happening. There is a gunshot. John Kennedy is struck in the back of the head and thrown violently forward." Now I'll tell you how I came across this film.

I was a lecturer at a university and some students got a hold of this film. Then they got a hold of the Zapruder film, and they ran Dan Rather's audio over the Zapruder film, so you can see the man is obviously lying, because the gunshot hits him in the right temple, he's thrown violently backwards, half of the skull is thrown out the left rear and on to a motorcycle cop, part of the skull is in the back and Jackie jumps out to grab it to bring it to the hospital in hopes she can repair her husband's shattered head. And the College students, eighteen or nineteen years of age, start hooting and hollering that Dan Rather is a liar. You never saw that on the news. You never saw anybody report about how this guy lied; and nobody ever confronted him.

I never got that into the documentary. It would have made it too long. Because I was trying to tell Jim's story and that's a different story. If I ever get round to part II, part II will be about the extensive media cover-up…

If Barbour was - is - right, and Rather did appear on CBS Evening News on Monday, November 25, 1963, accompanied by some or all of the Zapruder film, the orthodox history of the film and its chain of possession is, irrespective of the version shown, a corpse, and its advocates discredited.

I emailed John Barbour in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a DVD copy of the kinescope in question. If any one has a better line of communication with him, please try again.

*Black Op radio, show #435, August 6, 2009, 44:40 until 47:36.
It used to be available, but is no longer, at this link:
http://www.blackopra...chives2009.html
The show in question is still obtainable, though on disc only, at the following:
http://www.blackopra...m/products.html

[Paul Rigby]

I confess I find mysterious the purpose of the second of Rather's known televised descriptions. Just why did his handler(s) feel it necessary to broadcast a second version so quickly a mere eight minutes or so - after the first? What motivated this disconcertingly swift and unexplained second go?

I am puzzled because description A (1607hrs, EST) contains an egregious error which is not merely uncorrected, but compounded by the addition of another, in description B (1621hrs, EST):

A3: "The automobile, the black Lincoln convertible, with the top down..."

Is not merely repeated in the second description, but supplemented by another:

B2: "The motion picture shows the limousine carrying, in the front seat, two secret service men; in the middle, or jump seat, Governor and Mrs. Connally; and, in the rear seat, President and Mrs. Kennedy; a single secret service man standing on the back bumper; the top of the black Lincoln convertible down."

B4: "After the left turn was completed, the automobile, with only one car in front of it - a secret service car immediately in front..."

Both "errors" A3/B2 and B4 were, it should be noted, corrected (by omission) in description C, which occurred after Altgens 6 had been shown on CBS.

[Paul Rigby]

Paul

After watching these films several times, I have come to the conclusion that film #3 is an edited and altered version of the original. The proof of this can be seen at the 2:55 mark of the third film, where Dan Rather is describing the Secret Service man putting his hands on Jackie's shoulders and pushing her back into the limo. Only, this time, it comes out as "hands on Jackie's shoulder"; "shoulder" instead of "shoulders". Notice, also, the slight lurch in the film and Rather's mouth as the end of the word "shoulder" comes out.

Dan Rather appears to be reading from a script. If not, he has an incredible recall, even if he saw the film more than once.

I can only surmise that someone with half a brain clued in to the obvious predicament that, if the Secret Service man on the rear bumper put both hands on Jackie's shoulders and pushed, the Secret Service man stood a very good chance of pushing himself off the rear bumper; especially considering the limo was supposed to have been accelerating at this point in time.

See line 30 of below:

"How many times Rather described the viewing of the Zapruder film is unclear. The earliest broadcast, however, appears to be the one in which Rather speaks over CBS radio with Hughes Rudd and Richard C. Hotelett...,"

Richard B. Trask. Pictures of The Pain: Photography and the assassination of President Kennedy (Danvers, Mass: Yeoman Press, 1994), 86.

Text of the radio description:

Richard B. Trask. Pictures of The Pain: Photography and the assassination of President Kennedy (Danvers, Mass: Yeoman Press, 1994), 86-89, endnote 25, 150, citing "CBS Radio Description of Zapruder Film by Dan Rather," from a transcript from the Richard Sprague Papers, Special Collections Division, Georgetown University Library, Washington, D.C., p.[1-3]

Richard Trask, National Nightmare on six feet of film: Mr Zapruder's home movie and murder of President Kennedy (Danvers, Mass.: Yeoman Press, 2005), 138-142, endnote 73, 360, citing "CBS Radio Description of Zapruder Film by Dan Rather," from a transcript from the Richard Sprague Papers, Special Collections Division, Georgetown University Library, Washington, D.C., p.[1-3]

http://www.etcfilmunit.com/Rudd_Hotelet.html

1. HR: Dick, ah, Dan Rather just came into the studio, ah and we've just been discussing this statement just made by Texas Attorney General Wagoner Carr about a full and complete investigation that is going to be carried out and so on.
2. HR: What do you have that's new, anything?
3. DR: Well I'm not sure that this is the proper context in which to put it, but as you may know Hughes I, I have just returned from seeing a, a movie which clearly shows in some great detail the exact moments preceding, the exact moments of, the President's assassination which clears up some of the points that had been rather vague up until this time.
4. DR: Now may not be the time or the place to discuss that, perhaps Dick uh...
5. RH: No I think it is, uh, Dan, I think it fits right into the context of what we've been saying.
6. DR: Well let me tell you then, give you a word picture of the motion picture that we have just seen.
7. DR: The President's automobile which was proceeded by only one other car containing Secret Service Agents - the President's open black Lincoln automobile - made a turn, a left turn off of Houston Street in Dallas onto Elm Street, this was right on the fringe area of the downtown area.
8. DR: This left turn was made right below the window from which the shot was fired.
9. DR: As the car made the turn completed the turn went below the window from which this shot was fired, went on past the building - keep in mind the window was on the sixth floor - it got about 35 yards from the base of the building - that is if you had dropped a plumb line from the window to the sidewalk to the President's car - was around 35 yards from that spot.
10. DR: President Kennedy had just put his right hand up to the side of his right eye, it appeared that he was perhaps brushing back his hair or rubbing his eyebrow.
11. DR: Mrs. Kennedy was not looking in his direction.
12. DR: In front of them, in the jump seat of the Lincoln, were Governor and Mrs. Connally.
13. DR: The Governor as was the President was on the side of the car of the building in which the assassin was located.
14. DR: Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. Connally were on the opposite side, two Secret Service men on the front seat.
15. DR: At almost the instant the President put his hand up to his eyebrow on the right side of his face, with Mrs. Kennedy looking away.
16. DR: The President lurched forward just a bit, uh, it was obvious he had been hit in the movie but you had to be looking very closely in order to see it.
17. DR: Mrs. Kennedy did not appear to be aware that he was hit but Governor Connally, in the seat just in front of the President, seemingly heard the shot, or sensed that something was wrong.
18. DR: Governor Connally, whose coat button was open, turned in such a way to extend his right hand out towards the President and the Governor seemed to have a look on his face that might say, "What is it? What happened?!
19. DR: And as he turned he exposed his entire shirt front and chest, because his coat was unbuttoned, at that moment a shot very clearly hit the part of the Governor.
20. DR: He was wounded once with a chest shot, this we now know, uh, the Governor fell back in his seat.
21. DR: Mrs. Connally immediately fell over the Governor.
22. DR: I say fell, she threw herself over the Governor.
23. DR: And at that instant the second shot, the third shot total but the second shot, hit President Kennedy and there was no doubt there, his head went forward with considerable violence.
24. DR: Mrs. Kennedy stood up immediately her mouth wide open.
25. DR: the President slumped over against Mrs. Kennedy almost toppling her over as she was standing .
26. DR: Mrs. Kennedy then threw herself out of the back seat of the car onto the trunk of the car, almost on all fours stretched out over the trunk of the car.
27. DR: There was a Secret Service man standing on the back bumper.
28. DR: It would appear that Mrs. Kennedy was either trying to get herself out of what she knew instinctively was danger, or perhaps was trying to grab the Secret Service man and pull him into the back seat of the car for help.
29. DR: At any rate Mrs. Kennedy was prone, face down on the back of the car on the trunk.
30. DR: The Secret Service man leaned over put his hands on her shoulders and shoved her back into the car.
31. DR: He seemed to be in danger of perhaps rolling or falling off the back.
32. DR: A Secret Service man in the front seat of the car, uh, was already on the telephone.
33. DR: Perhaps he had been on the phone all along; it was not clear and the car sped away.
34. RH: The car never stopped, did it?
35. DR: The car never stopped, it never paused.
36. HR: How long did it all take, Dan?
37. HR: In a matter of seconds?
38. DR: Well, the complete scene that I just described to you covers exactly 20 seconds; that is, from the time the car made the turn until the car disappeared onto an underpass.
39. RH: Is it clear, is it clear that the President was hit twice?
40. DR: It was very clear that the President was hit twice.
41. DR: He was hit, Governor Connally has hit and the Gov.., uh, the President was hit again.
42. HR: How long a time did the actual three shots take from the first shot until the final shot, Dan?
43. DR: Not more than five seconds and I am inclined to think slightly less than that perhaps.
44. HR: There [sic] must have been very grim pictures to watch, especially today.
45. RH: What was the source of these pictures, Dan?
46. DR: An amateur photographer had an 8 millimeter color, uh, camera.
47. DR: He had positioned himself up off the sidewalk on an old street lamp base; he was above the heads of the crowd; and he was facing the automobile.
48. RH: Of course he was focused on the automobile so there's no indication of where the shots came from.
49. DR: No, he was focused on the automobile with his back or side to the window from which the shots came.
50. DR: Only the automobile was shown in the film.

I did enjoy this exchange:

34. RH: The car never stopped, did it?
35. DR: The car never stopped, it never paused.

In light of the opening lines from Hughes Rudd:

Dick, ah, Dan Rather just came into the studio, ah and we've just been discussing this statement just made by Texas Attorney General Wagoner Carr about a full and complete investigation that is going to be carried out and so on. What do you have that's new, anything?

[Paul Rigby]

I confess I find mysterious the purpose of the second of Rather's known televised descriptions. Just why did his handler(s) feel it necessary to broadcast a second version so quickly a mere eight minutes or so - after the first? What motivated this disconcertingly swift and unexplained second go?

I am puzzled because description A (1607hrs, EST) contains an egregious error which is not merely uncorrected, but compounded by the addition of another, in description B (1621hrs, EST):

A3: "The automobile, the black Lincoln convertible, with the top down..."

Is not merely repeated in the second description, but supplemented by another:

B2: "The motion picture shows the limousine carrying, in the front seat, two secret service men; in the middle, or jump seat, Governor and Mrs. Connally; and, in the rear seat, President and Mrs. Kennedy; a single secret service man standing on the back bumper; the top of the black Lincoln convertible down."

B4: "After the left turn was completed, the automobile, with only one car in front of it - a secret service car immediately in front..."

Both "errors" A3/B2 and B4 were, it should be noted, corrected (by omission) in description C, which occurred after Altgens 6 had been shown on CBS.

The highlighted area at the end of the above is utter nonsense: Altgens 6 debuted on CBS TV on the evening of November 22. There is no evidence that I have seen that it was shown again on the afternoon or early evening of Monday, November 25.

So absent this external stimulus, the corrections (by omission) in televised description C had another cause, most likely, I continue to suspect, the imminence of the showing of either the full first version of the Z film, or extracts from it, as per the description of the kinescope referenced by John Barbour.

Apologies for the brainfart.

[Paul Rigby]

I confess I find mysterious the purpose of the second of Rather's known televised descriptions. Just why did his handler(s) feel it necessary to broadcast a second version so quickly a mere eight minutes or so - after the first? What motivated this disconcertingly swift and unexplained second go?

I am puzzled because description A (1607hrs, EST) contains an egregious error which is not merely uncorrected, but compounded by the addition of another, in description B (1621hrs, EST):

A3: "The automobile, the black Lincoln convertible, with the top down..."

Is not merely repeated in the second description, but supplemented by another:

B2: "The motion picture shows the limousine carrying, in the front seat, two secret service men; in the middle, or jump seat, Governor and Mrs. Connally; and, in the rear seat, President and Mrs. Kennedy; a single secret service man standing on the back bumper; the top of the black Lincoln convertible down."

B4: "After the left turn was completed, the automobile, with only one car in front of it - a secret service car immediately in front..."

Both "errors" A3/B2 and B4 were, it should be noted, corrected (by omission) in description C, which occurred after Altgens 6 had been shown on CBS.

The highlighted area at the end of the above is utter nonsense: Altgens 6 debuted on CBS TV on the evening of November 22. There is no evidence that I have seen that it was shown again on the afternoon or early evening of Monday, November 25.

So absent this "external" stimulus, the corrections (by omission) in televised description C had another cause, most likely, I continue to suspect, the imminence of the showing of either the full first version of the Z film, or extracts from it, as per the description of the kinescope referenced by John Barbour.

Apologies for the brainfart.

[Paul Rigby]

Someone called Hans Trayne has obligingly (?) posted to his Youtube channel the three versions, seemingly correctly labelled and timed, complete with the texts I posted above:

First version:
[video=youtube_share;NFXNAJNnO2Y]http://youtu.be/NFXNAJNnO2Y[/video]

Published on Mar 28, 2014
On 25 Nov 1963, CBS news broadcast 3 different reports from Dan Rather in Dallas describing what he had seen when he viewed the Zapruder film. This 1st report was broadcast at 4:07 PM EST. Each report differs in details of scenes Mr. Rather saw that do not match the officially released Zapruder film authorized by the Zapruder heirs in 1998 on 'Image Of An Assassination'. Global visuals analysts now believe Mr. Rather was describing a film that was subsequently falsified by government operatives at a secret film lab before the public 1st viewed it on TV in1975.

Second version:
[video=youtube_share;Ey6EBfqfT8Q]http://youtu.be/Ey6EBfqfT8Q[/video]

Published on Mar 28, 2014
On 25 Nov 1963, CBS news broadcast 3 different reports from Dan Rather in Dallas describing what he had seen when he viewed the Zapruder film. This 2nd report was broadcast at 4:21 PM EST. Each report differs in details of scenes Mr. Rather saw that do not match the officially released Zapruder film authorized by the Zapruder heirs in 1998 on 'Image Of An Assassination'. Global visuals analysts now believe Mr. Rather was describing a film that was subsequently falsified by government operatives at a secret film lab before the public 1st viewed it on TV in 1975.

Third version:
[video=youtube_share;MBO0TqiIZww]http://youtu.be/MBO0TqiIZww[/video]

Published on Mar 28, 2014
On 25 Nov 1963, CBS news broadcast 3 different reports from Dan Rather in Dallas describing what he had seen when he viewed the Zapruder film. This 3rd report was broadcast at 6:30 PM EST. The description of Jackie Kennedy trying to exit the limo has been dropped in this report. Scenes described differ from what is seen when the film was officially released by Zapruder's heirs in 1998 on 'Image Of An Assassination'. Global visuals analysts now believe Mr. Rather was describing a film that was subsequently falsified by government operatives at a secret film lab before the public 1st viewed it on TV in1975.

Trayne's "channel" is to be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/trayne59