Added: 5 years ago
From: kingdaevid
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  • As for the smoking, there's plenty of smoking on-set if you watch the NBC and ABC network coverage as well. Cigarette ads on TV and radio weren't outlawed until 1971 and a lot of ads (especially in the '40s and '50s) actually touted the supposed health BENEFITS of smoking. And after all, I don't think anyone would have begrudged Jay Watson a cig considering the enormous amount of stress he (and every other newsman in America) was likely under at the time.

  • This bulletin may have not been the VERY first one, but it carries a special weight because Jay Watson had actually seen the shooting taking place and knew how serious it was. He was out of breath from running back to the station. He does a good job considering he was only the station's program director and probably not used to being on camera. Jay later worked for WJBK-TV in Detroit in the '70s and '80s. He died in 1995.

  • What do you guys think about this?!! I was born in 1971........However, any mention of JFK causes my antennas to go up. There is something about President Kennedy that either fascinates or spooks me. He was a great President...I get it. But I just don't understand why I am so consumed by him...any thoughts?!!

  • @sfcphilip alot of people did not feel he was "great" for their interests at the time. this was at a time when organized crime reached into every part of the country. cuba was seen as a major threat, civil rights movement was seen as a threat, j edgar hoover and his buddy lbj also percieved jfk as a threat. oh yeah that org. crime thing I mentioned had hoover and lbj in their corner. then along comes that lone commie nut oswald to do em all a big favor. I guess they all just got lucky.

  • yep hes straight up smoking but today in the 24 hour news cycle they dont smoke on screen

  • is he smoking? I saw what looks like cigarette smoke coming from his left hand

  • @Creepingdeathx81 smoking was not only acceptable, but common.... especially in high-tension atmospheres, thus completely common in those dealing in serious news broadcasts..... or episodes of the twilight zone ( :P )

  • @Creepingdeathx81 Many people smoked back then.

  • Here's what's ironic about the zippers in the sleeves and elsewhere. That sleek, straight look she's talking about was pioneered by Jacqueline Kennedy. She didn't invent it, but it was designed for her by Cassini and she had other outfits by French designers. Then all the women wanted to look just like her so they all had to have pillbox hats and hidden zippers! If you REALLY want to know more, google "hidden zipper" or "invisible zipper". They are still used.

  • Loved Kennedy, hated his social programs. Programs that are ruining the country.

  • Thank you for posting this. I had not seen it before.

  • I really wish we could have heard the end of what that woman was saying about zippers being sometimes hidden in the arm.

  • @feckingbillgates

    As this was lunchtime, the television would have contained programmes aimed at women. A modern equivalent in Britain now would be if the Prime Minister was assasinated, then ITN would cut into This Morning, a female oriented magazine show where fashion is a big feature.

  • @Glenn1967ful I know.

  • Boy, I'm suprised that the conspiracy nuts have caught on that the woman talking just before the break-in said jacket (Jack hit) and then pointed to her arm (the same place where Connoly was hit). Coincidence? I doubt it, she was in on it.

  • @tryithere haven't

  • @tryithere That's great! Exactly how conspiracy people read into things!

  • It terrifies me tot hink about what future "urgent" broadcasts we will have to watch.

  • @HelenHish I know right? Fox News is the worst with this, declaring a "news alert" any time Angelina Jolie eats spaghetti.

  • That's the way I heard it...as an urgent interruption. I was in math class in Jr High when an announcement came over the loudspeaker. We were all in disbelief. Buses came and took us home early. I still tear up to think about it. It may be difficult for people who were not here then to understand, but I believe it shocked the nation even more than 9/11.

  • I was not yet born at this time, I came in '64, but my husband can recall all of this vividly, and my mom has talked about how heartbreaking it was to see Mrs. Kennedy in her blood-stained pink Chanel Suit later on television, and in photos, and the image of little JFK Jr. saluting as his dad's casket went by.

  • @whatanightmare1 Born in 64? So you probably weren't in on the conspiracy then huh.

  • @tryithere LOL...no, I wasn't :~) I was precocious as a child, but not that much.

  • I was four and my family was going to visit The Bronx Zoo. My parents already knew about the shooting. When we got to the zoo, we noticed a small sign on the locked gate. My father got out of our VW bus to go and read the sign. When he returned, he quietly said that the zoo was closed because the president had been killed.

  • heard two shots, eh?

  • Where were you guys when Kennedy was assassinated?

  • In solidarity with the American people -- & all people -- I call on the current president, his surviving predecessors, Congress, and all U.S. & intl. media; on all who spoke/wrote yesterday to honor President Kennedy on the 50th anniversary of his inauguration: to speak/write now to honor & examine, for the benefit of the American people -- & all people -- his Executive Order 11110 & its fate. President Kennedy stood up for all of you. Now who of you will stand up for President Kennedy? Who?????

  • @20jan1961 I stood on his grave once. Does that count?

  • All that multipath ghosting.

  • I can't imagine watching something as harmless as a home clothing design show, and then having a guy suddenly appear, out of breath, saying the president was shot. I wonder how long it would take me to realize that what I was watching was actually happening.

  • What a pro newsman.

  • jay watson performed ADMIRABLY considering the extenuating circumstances involved.

  • One of our nation's saddest and tragic moments, that actually turned out to be one of the most defining moments in broadcast journalism and patriotism. It's been almost 50 years now since Jack died, and the further it becomes, the lesser the likeliness that we'll ever come up with an answer to what really happened. May he, Bobby, and Ted all rest in peace.

  • How rude of them to interrupt that lovely television show...

  • The poor man ran from Dealey Plaza smoking all the way! Sorry I'm a tad bit out of breath says the man!

  • He looks like John C Reilly

  • That was some braindead television in the beginning there. Let's keep the housewives stupid with our inconsequential programming!

  • This is in fact a genuine news flash. Note the cigarette in Jay Watson's hand....things were quite different back then. This was not a national flash..rather a local Dallas station.

  • Sadly missed still John ,Bobby and Martin

  • People have zippers in their arms?

  • @mocus1 in the arm of the clothing - silly goose!  ;)

  • may god rest president kennedy's soul - may he, bobby and ted kennedy rest in peace.

  • I think this has been done as a spoof. Something not quite right about it. Can't put my finger on it but it's fake. It could have been filmed with the TV system of 1963 but it isn't a genuine newsflash.

  • @airscrew1 this is real

  • @airscrew1 yeh it feels like that to me to....

  • @airscrew1 This is real. Spoofs are meant to be funny.

  • @airscrew1 Are you kidding me? Newsflash for you: it's real. The young President, 46 years old with two children (2 and 5) and a 31 year old wife - had his head blown apart on a Dallas street. What's to spoof? And who would want to spoof such a thing?

  • @Cathie8791 I know the assasination was real. I wasn't saying that, I just said this newsflash doesn't seem real. Like it was made several years later for some other reason.

  • how much sooner than the networks?

  • @jwmellott I think this bulletin aired on WFAA at 12:35 P.M. Central time (1:35 Eastern time), which would make it five minutes before the first network TV bulletin (on CBS at 12:40 CST/1:40 EST).

    I believe the first NBC and ABC TV network bulletins were around 1:43 or 1:45 EST. But on the other hand, I think ABC and NBC weren't feeding programs on the East Coast, whereas CBS was (with "As The World Turns"). That may have been a factor.

  • That's funny man!

  • What about the ZIPPER ??!! ....absolutely a conspiracy to keep the zipper details from the American public. The truth WILL out !

  • a day you dont want to be a reporter

  • Old news.

    Twitter reported 1 hour ago.

  • so where else are zippers hidden in my clothes?

  • Ahhhhhhhh HA HA love the Star Trek "Uhuru" IFB (earpiece that was like having a coffee cup in your ear for people in the 1960s) the TV folks wore. Other weird thing for someone born in the 1970s: all the SMOKING done on LIVE news. These guys took a drag while the interview was going on.

  • This was NOT the first JFK assassination bulletin. There were several TV and radio bulletins that already had aired prior to this local news break-in by WFAA Jay Watson at 12:45 pm CST. The very first TV bulletin was a nationwide bulletin from CBS's Walter Cronkite at 12:40 pm CST and the very first radio bulletin was a nationwide bulletin from ABC's Don Gardiner at 12:36 pm CST. Watson however did a fantastic job that day.

  • @heycomeandgetit You're absolutely right. From that DAY every TV station always had a "warm" camera ready..unless of course I worked there and wanted to break in for a tornado warning >:-() ^&^*&$

  • @heycomeandgetit  As noted elsewhere, I think this bulletin aired in Dallas at 12:35 CST, which would be 1:35 EST.

  • @altfactor You are wrong. This bulletin by WFAA TV did not air until 12:45 pm CST. This is easily verifiable if one possesses the entire WFAA TV coverage, which I do. This WFAA TV bulletin was NOT the first Kennedy shooting bulletin that was broadcast that day.

  • @bkj333 Thanks for the correction.

    Given that this was from a Dallas TV station, I thought that they would have had the news prior to any network.

  • @altfactor Local stations are often beaten to the punch by the networks especially in national emergencies like presidential shootings. The ABC radio network with anchor Don Gardiner was first on the air at 12:36 pm CST. The first TV bulletin was by the CBS television network with anchor Walter Cronkite (voice only, at first) at 12:40 pm CST. So kingdaevid is simply wrong when he assumes that this WFAA TV bulletin was the first one that day; it did not air until 12:45 pm CST (easily verifiable).

  • @bkj333 Well, where is the FIRST one, if you know so much?

  • @mikhelandrew @mikhelandrew Put the following words in the YouTube search window: "JFK Assassination: First Radio Network Bulletin" That will connect you to the very first nationwide bulletin at 12:36 pm CST which was the first ABC Radio bulletin. Next, put this in the search window: "JFK'S ASSASSINATION (CBS-TV COVERAGE)(11+ HOURS OF FOOTAGE)(PART 1)" That will connect you to the very first nationwide TV bulletin at 12:40 pm CST. Both of these beat the WFAA TV bulletin at 12:45pm CST.

  • The bldgs that were ordered NOT BOMBED WW2 was IG FARBEN German Assets financed HITLER and ROOSEVELT CIA was created & Central Offices were in IG FARBEN bldgs during and after the war IG&GM made the GAS for the Chambers Dupont produced plastic with IG. Bush created US Statesmen of Hitlers Henchmen undermining our LAWS Lincoln and Kennedy Murders BY ROTHSCHILD BY abolishing the FED RES. Exec. Order 11110 by Kennedy 6 months b4 his death

    JOHNSON RECINDED EX ORDER 11110 for ROTHSCHILD immediately

  • This was a ten-bell "FLASH" bulletin on the UPI Teletype wire... ten bells were limited to dire emergencies like enemy attack... or the assassination of the President. There's an interesting story on this written by a guy who worked in the UPI office in Chicago (google "jfk assassination teletype"). Teletype was a lot like IMing, and they had to force everyone off the wire to get the news out by typing things like "STAY OFF ALL OF YOU STAY OFF AND KEEP OFF GET OFF"...

  • @warszawianka - That piece by Larry Lorenz on how UPI teletype handled the news was fascinating. Thank you! (you can also google "Flash President Dead" to find this) See also "Total Domination", by Patrick J. Sloyan, on ajr dot org, about competition to report the shooting. Jay Watson's one of my heroes. KTJ

  • tony amore

  • very good video

  • Jay Watson, WFAA Program Director, witnessed the presidential motorcade and the subsequent shooting. He and Jerry Haines, "Mr. Peppermint" host, were on the air IMMEDIATELY after returning to the studios with their eyewitnesses, Bill and Gayle Newman.

  • Poor guy's hands are shaking and he looks like he's about to cry. I wouldn't have handled it any better.

  • building 7

  • WHAT ABOUT THE ARM ZIPPER???

  • LOL

  • Comment removed

  • i was born in 78 my nickname was his sons nickname

  • I was in 6th grade. My teacher left the room, came back in tears with a television for us to watch. I remember thinking as a young girl that assassinations were something that doesnt happen anymore. My parents were devastated, and I felt a sense of "creepiness" in the days following. We never left the television set.

  • :* (kisses)

  • @sunnysmom I feel that "creepiness" watching this even now.

  • I was 12 . I was in the 7th grade in Jr. High in Queens, NYC. At 2:40 EST They dismissed us without telling us why. Someome on the street said JFK was shot. I got home and my Mom told me it was true and he was dead. I am 58 now. The memories of that day are as fresh as they were almost 46 years ago.

  • do you have any personal feeling on what happend that day ?

  • Yes, after looking at the Zapruder film, there is no question that the head shot had to have come from the grassy knowl . There is no way Oswald could have hit him in the head that way. And it was the Mob. Jack Ruby killed Oswald to shut him up. Ruby was from Chicago where the Giancana mob was boss. In the book "double cross" by Giancana's Nephew , he says his uncle told him they got JFK and Marilyn Monroe. Even Oswald called himself a "Patsy" which is a mob term.

  • always woundered myself about it , there was some black and white footage on here of a body gard being told to step of the back of the limo as its pulling away he seems confused as to why hes being told to step off it. but i cant find it on here now. why do you think thay wanted to kill monroe ?

  • MM was a go-between the white house and the mob. There was a casino near Reno on the Ca/NV border called the Calneva hotel and Casino. It was frequented by mobsters, Sinatra, , MM and Judith Exner. the 2 women that would visit the white house when Jackie was away. MM would go to the Calneva after her trips to DC and tell them stuff from JFK. In 1962 she was a mess from booze and pills and the mob felt she was a danger to them and that's why they whacked her.

  • Cal Neva Lodge & Casino is a resort and casino straddling the border between Nevada and California on the shores of Lake Tahoe. Its mailing address is in Crystal Bay, Nevada. It first opened in 1926, and currently has a total of 220 rooms including cabins, chalets and tower rooms.[1] This lodge was once part-owned by Frank Sinatra.

    The Cal Neva maintains the oldest, continual use gaming license in the State of Nevada

  • i see the what you mean, gess there was'nt to many people that could go between those 2 worlds so easy as she could thats pritty amazeing come to think of it. whats your view no the water gate scandle

  • A sad story in US history. A man who opened up big barriers with Red China and the USSR and ended the Vietnam war, destroyed himself by being a paranoid person who thought the press was out to get him. He choose some of the worst crooks ever to work in the whitehouse and trusted them and when they did wrong, he tried to cover it up. Watch Frost/Nixon if you ever get a chance.

  • I wasn't even alive when JFK was president, but watching this still makes me feel sort of sad...just as an American, you know? It's no way for one of our presidents to die...*shakes head*

  • "sort of sad"

    do you not have a soul?

  • 1:18 she cried oh noez!

  • that announcer handled himself really well considering the circumstances

  • totally agree

  • At the Book Depository Museum you can buy a DVD entitled "The Story Behind the Story," and it has this as well as most of the coverage from WFAA (the station that produced this). It's a very interesting collection.

  • Perhaps, the saddest, yet most influential date in US history. One school of thought sees this as the end of American innocence & the beginning of American cynicism. That our present way of thinking is a reaction to the things that happened from then until Watergate in 1972 & its aftermath in 1973. Interesting thought & I believe mostly accurate save for the tech boom. Lastly, JFK, the Moon landing & 9/11: Moments you remember exactly where you where when you heard the news.

  • And that day has changed the course of history ever since.

  • My mother was a freshman in high school when this happened. She said that when the announcement was made, a girl in a classroom down the hall screamed, and school let out for the rest of the day.

  • LMAOOOOO

  • Dude I laughed myself silly over your comment.

  • @recordingautist

    Hey, Nick, in one way I love your wit, but as a young person you can't share the poignant feeling of someone like myself who heard that news as a 16 year-old on a November evening in 1963 in Dublin, Ireland.

    The cliche is true, all those of us alive at the time have remembered where we were when we learnt of the assassination. I caught a fleeting glimpse of President Kennedy when he visited Ireland earlier that year...

  • @recordingautist Zipper discussion: Just before this, Betsy (on the right) was describing women's ski clothes. The hostess asks what all the zippers are for - "not for mad money, are they?" Betsy says zippers can be anywhere they're needed,"to keep the snow out", for example. And then, of course, there's the important point about the zipper on the side of the jacket insuring "that straight, sleek look that it should have".

    Then that guy talks about the other stuff.

  • @hebneh A real tragedy! Just because some guy got angry and took a gun to work! After they interrupted that conversation with that breaking news did they ever return to the zipper dialogue or was all that knowledge of zipper application lost to humanity. Somehow I suspect the button lobby was somehow behind all this.

  • @2vonranke You are too much! That's funny!

  • @recordingautist

    Shut up!

  • @recordingautist Me too!

  • Love the cig in the announcer's hand

  • its a microphone

  • why oh why didn't they go back to resolve the issue about the zipper...

  • What was the reporter's name?

  • This is not over. Not by a long shot (no pun). You can believe that those who are still alive and were part of this, are known and will be dealt with. You can bank on it.

  • The reporter was the late Jay Watson, a reporter for WFAA-TV (Channel 8) in Dallas, Texas. Jay actually ran from Dealey Plaza directly to the WFAA studios after the shots were fired. You can see why he was out of breath. He was a fine reporter.

  • He ran from the Plaza to the studio...so what was the distance between the two?

  • It was approximately two blocks away.

  • @petequentin - I think Jay was the program director for WFAA at the time and held that post until 1966. I do know he later worked for Storer Broadcasting in the '70s and was general manager of Detroit's then-CBS, now-Fox affiliate, WJBK-TV.

    And despite the fact that he probably wasn't used to being in front of the camera, he did do a fine job. As for the smoking... 1963 was a different era, and probably Jay and his cohorts needed the cigarettes anyway. Give him a break, people.

  • what about the zipper?

  • I love all this historical stuff but man that was funny! Thanks.

  • I remenber that day back in 1963 I was

    in Jr. High School that time it was the 3rd

    period , It was a PA that President Kennedy was Shot in Dallas later another

    PA that President Kennedy was dead

  • wow important video

  • A Jew didn't kill Kennedy, a Russian man by the name of Lee Harvey Oswald killed him.Man get your facts right.

  • Speaking of getting facts right, Lee Oswald was born in New Orleans and was of German, French, English and Irish ancestry. He did not set foot on Russian soil until 1959 at the age of nineteen.

  • Aww man I was watching that first show....

  • It's okay It's okay! it will be on again in 2:50:43:68:49:02 day

  • what was that show?

  • keep in mind history repeats itself.

  • Jay Watson's local WFAA TV bulletin in the Dallas-Fort Worth viewing area was NOT the first bulletin broadcast concerning the JFK shooting. Watson came on the air at 12:45 pm CST (15 minutes after the shooting). But Walter Cronkite already had broadcast the first CBS network TV bulletin five minutes before Watson at 12:40 pm CST (or 1:40 pm EST). Nevertheless Watson and his colleagues at WFAA Channel 8 did a marvelous job of covering the story.

  • i remember when reagan was shot and my came home to my mother watching tv during the day....

    it was surreal i was in grade 7

  • Note that he said "assassins." Plural. In the youtube video "John Connally's first interview after 11/22/63" he describes 3 bullets hitting himself and the President, not 2 as the Warren Commission claims.

  • i thought he said assasin's. as in belonging to the assasin

  • What a time capsule...

    Can only imagine what that must have been like watching that.

  • "she jumped up and grabbed him" is a piece of american folklore

  • i guess u didn't watcth the video douchbag

  • I'm so disappointed that this guy is out of breath. I'm writing the station.

  • ROFL

  • just get him an oxygen tank

  • OMG. Talk about a quick interuption. Not even a chance to put on the WFAA Logo & annouce "WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM FOR A SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN." Freaky.

  • 420SensiStar

    It was called "The Judy Bonelle Show"

  • This is the WFAA feed. I picked this up on ITunes a few years ago. This is good stuff. Zepuruder gets interviewed later on.

  • I'll show her what zipper counts! oh ya.

  • Gives goose bumps

  • historic footage, indeed. the woman doing the talking on the program that was to be interrupted by the bulletin has got it going on. thanks for a pleasant peek at early sixties sex appeal, texas style!

  • that's crazy

  • What station is this and what city?

  • WFAA-TV. Dallas, Texas.

  • I was 8 years old and at Sir James Douglas Elementary School in Victoria, BC. We were told the president was shot and sent home early from school. I came home and found my mother crying..I will never forget that day.

  • I was eight years old then. We were visiting in North Carolina because my grandmother was on her deathbed (she passed away the next month). All the family was already depressed, and then my uncle came home and told us that President Kennedy had just been killed.

  • Wow. Two grand deaths so close to eachother. That had to have been hard... It's a good thing you were still young, as it had probably been even harder on you if you were older.

  • Yes that was a sad day. I was 13 years old and will remember that moment I saw Walter Cronkite break into the show we were watching to announce the president had been shot. I will remember that moment and the entire weekend of events til the day I die.

  • I sort of know how he feels. I felt the same on assasination of Benazir Bhutto in December. I am a Pakistani, even though I was not a supporter of Mrs Bhutto, I was truly shocked and dazed at how brutally she had been killed. I am sure most Americans felt the same way.

  • Geez the womens hair styles back then, YUK!

  • That's your comment?

    Like in 50 years everyone will be saying how cool your hair style looked on 9/11?

    Get real.

  • Hair makes or breaks a person....

  • This must have been so powerful and frightening for people watching this live back in '63. I wasn't around back then, but here I am 44 years later watching this and it's putting butterflies in MY stomach!

  • The world suddenly stopped. It was so surreal. People were openly crying, everywhere. These live bulletins bring it all back, like it's all happening right now.

  • The paper he is holding was bought privately in 1964 for $35 by my grandfather, and is currently framed on his office wall!!

  • Wow!

  • the reporter looks like Kelsey Grammar

  • I was going to say the same thing.

  • why is the reporter out of breath?

  • I'd imagine all news stations were probably all chaos at the time, so he might have been running around getting information for the story.

  • He was actually along the parade route and saw the president go by then heard the shots a few seconds afterwards and then probabaly dashed back to his station.

  • What TV station is this? I don't think it's WFAA.