Former CNN anchor Aaron Brown, renowned for his acclaimed coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, died Sunday at 76, his family said, per CNN.
Brown, a radio talk show host from Minnesota and longtime ABC News anchor, is most known for his broadcast coverage of the attacks on September 11, 2001.
It was his first appearance on CNN, and an unscheduled one, but Brown jumped into the action. He reported live on the attacks for 17 hours straight.
His coverage from the roof of CNN’s Manhattan office cemented him as a trusted figure for American viewers.
“When he was live on air, he just stopped and looked at it. And paused. And he shared this moment that everybody was thinking, ‘Good Lord. There are no words,’” CNN’s John Vause, who also reported from New York that day, told CNN.
He recalled how Brown removed his reporter hat to react when the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.
“The South Tower, the second tower. The one on the left collapsed. It collapsed in a cascade of smoke and sparks,” Brown said during his coverage of the attacks. “This is devastation. There are 50,000 people who normally go